


Slippery Luck

by dontcryMasha



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angels, Awkward Dean, BAMF Castiel, Bottom Castiel, Dean/Anna friendship, Demons, M/M, Mechanic Dean, Minor Original Character(s), Orphan Dean, Protective Castiel, Sad, Top Dean, Wing Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-25
Updated: 2014-12-06
Packaged: 2018-02-27 00:44:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 47,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2672564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontcryMasha/pseuds/dontcryMasha
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>His childhood memory seemed to be filled with holes. He knew that he was an orphan and he knew when he was adopted, but many details were missing. The only thing he knew for sure was the appearance of the Blue Eyed Man.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

It was dark. The city was soaked from heavy rainfall. While taxis began to wind down for the night and people made it safely home, a woman was running through the streets. She held a bundle close to her chest as her legs ran as fast as they possibly could. She was panting, screaming, crying for mercy from what appeared to be nothing.

She rounded a corner. She dashed into an alleyway. The rain would not let up but her invisible assailant seemed to be gone. With her legs shaking and a mixture of blood, sweat, rain and tears staining her face, she paused to catch her breath. The bundle in her arms moved and she looked down. It was a baby, not even a year old. A weak smile formed on the woman’s lips as she made eye contact with the infant. “Not yet,” she whispered.

Any solace that she could possibly find in that moment was gone as a deep, resonating droning sound, much like a church bell that had been toned down to an other-worldly low, invaded her ears. She screamed out again as if in pain from the sound, then kept running once more.

Through her eyes, several dark creatures which looked like massive, tall shadows had turned the corner and began to pursue her down the alley. Heavy strands of filthy, soaked blonde hair stuck to the woman’s face as she watched the shadows progress, still clinging to the child and running quickly.

She knocked over a couple trashcans and stomped through a puddle. The shadows made another ominous toll and the woman cried out painfully. She was so distracted by the sound, the darkness and overwhelming fear that she failed to notice the alley was a dead end. Her back smacked up against the final wall and she held the child close.

“STOP!” she screamed at the shadows, who were closing in on her. They towered over her like great, grim vultures.

“ _The child_ ,” growled a rotten voice. It seared through the airwaves and came into the woman’s ears as if on a different plane entirely.

“NEVER!”

Even up against the face of what seemed to be inescapable death, the woman showed great bravery and courage. She looked right at the shadows and shouted, “You will NEVER have him!”

“ _Then_ you _…_ ”

At that very moment, something hidden beneath the woman’s shirt began to glow. A bright blue light sparkled through the fabric and levitated up and out of the neck. It was a small bottle which hung from a chain around her neck. The light made the shadows shriek and shrink. They wilted and backed away from the woman.

“ _Foul!_ ” One hissed.

“Right now?” The woman asked to the bottle. It twinkled. She began to cry. The baby was asleep in her arms. “I understand. I know.”

With one hand, she snatched the bottle from around her neck, yanked it from the chain and smashed it onto the ground. A warm, blue glow rose from the broken glass like heavy vapor. It expanded and the woman nodded as if communicating with it. She took the baby and held it out towards the light.

“ _NO!_ ” The shadows began to scream again. They grew up, much higher this time, crept around the walls in the dead end and closed in on the woman, who stared at the child with great focus.

“Goodbye, Dean,” she whispered.

The baby was instantly sucked into the light and vanished along with it, leaving only broken glass behind. Then the shadows grabbed the woman.


	2. Blue-Eyed Memories

Dean Winchester was ten years old. His memory had holes in it, he thought, because no matter how much he tried to remember what his life had been like, he couldn’t. He knew that he lived in an orphanage and he knew that he had been there for a while. He knew his first name was Dean and that his mother likely named him, however he didn’t know where his surname came from. He didn’t remember anything other than the orphanage and he barely recalled any of that. He did, however, know that he loved the days when the kids went to the creek.

They all held hands and followed the head of the orphanage, Miss Jody, out the back door and through the woods. There was a nice creek that ran through the forest and at the shallow point, the kids could go and play in it. Dean liked that the best because being outside was awesome. He hated to be trapped within the walls of the orphanage.

“Dean, stay close!” Miss Jody hollered to the young boy.

While the majority of the orphans were splashing around in the water, all in a tight circle, Dean was walking down the rocky shore and away from the group.

“I knoo-oow!” Dean shouted in return.

He put his hands into his pockets and kept walking, kicking at some of the rocks as he went. With a fixed scowl, he kept looking back over his shoulder to see if Miss Jody was still looking. One of the kids stumbled into the water and that took her attention for a bit, so Dean walked further away until he found some peace and quiet (for a ten year old).

He picked up a couple of smooth stones and tried to skip them across the water. Some other kids in the orphanage, older ones who had been adopted out, showed him how but he hadn’t quite gotten the hang of it.

_Plooosh!_

The rock he tossed didn’t skip. Dean grumbled as he searched for another that might do it better. Maybe the rocks he chose weren’t smooth enough?

_Plip-plip-ploooosh!_

This time Dean squatted over, attempting to line himself up parallel to the water. A light breeze blew by. He went to toss the rock, but he was interrupted and it hit the ground.

“Hello, Dean.”

“HEY!” Dean squawked. He straightened himself up and saw that a man was sitting beside him. He was on a large boulder that went close to the water. “Don’t surprise me like that!”

The man, who appeared to be in his thirties, wore a tan trench coat atop a suit, had messy black hair and bright blue eyes that nearly glowed. He had his hands in his lap and looked out over the water solemnly. “My apologies,” he said in a gravelly voice.

“It’s okay,” the boy replied. He shoved a few rocks into his pockets then went over to the man stood there, staring at him. “Been a while. You okay?”

“Of course I am,” said the man. His eyes fell on Dean momentarily. “You’ve grown.”

“Guess so.”

“How old are you now?”

“Ten.”

“Ah. I see. I’m glad.”

Was that a smile? It was hard to tell.

“Okay, cool,” said Dean. He kicked at the ground and cleared his little throat. “So um, what’s up with you?”

“You know that I cannot tell you my business here.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“You have no reason to apologize. Oh, Dean?”

The man looked up high. He got to his feet and let his arms hang at his sides. “You should return to the group—now!”

“Huh?”

In an instant, the man was gone. Dean raised his eyebrows, stared, then suddenly dashed back to where the other orphans were. The moment he made it back to the group, there was a great big **CRACK** and a tree toppled over. It fell right over where Dean had been standing. He swallowed stiffly.

“Dean!” Miss Jody yelped. She suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder. “What were you doing over there?! I said to stay with the group!”

“It’s okay,” Dean said, trying to make his voice as low as possible. “The Blue-Eyed Man saved me.”

Miss Jody groaned. “Not again with the Blue-Eyed Man! I thought you were growing out of that.”

Dean shook his head. “He’s not just a game,” he protested, but Miss Jody wasn’t happy. She rounded up the other orphans and announced they were headed back. Many of them were visibly shook up by the tree falling.

“And you wonder why you don’t get adopted!”

This came from a snarky girl, about Dean’s age, who ran up behind him as they headed home. Dean stuck his tongue out at her.

“Not nice to leaves-drop,” he said.

“It’s _eavesplop_ , Dean.”

“Whatever.”

When people mocked him for talking to the Blue-Eyed Man, it really offended Dean. Not just because he thought the man deserved to be spoken about better, but his existence was the only thing that Dean could truly count on. Sometimes it would be days, sometimes weeks between seeing him, but when he saw that familiar trench coat and sloppy mop of hair, Dean remembered. He remembered that his life _mattered_ and he felt safe, even if the Blue-Eyed Man was sort of a weirdo.

Two years later, Dean was growing up more and he realized that he should keep the Blue-Eyed Man to himself. He lied to Miss Jody and said that he didn’t appear anymore, even though he was still blessed with an occasional visit.

But the Blue-Eyed Man wasn’t Dean’s top priority. Far from it, actually, since the policy of his orphanage was that children who turn thirteen without any notion of being adopted automatically go to a boarding school. A nasty one, too; and they stay there until they reach eighteen and are thus cast out into the big world. Dean did not want that. As much as he hated the orphanage, a rugged school with all sorts of hapless miscreants was the last place he’d like to live.

“I heard they beat you with metal rulers if you interrupt class,” said Benny, the latest kid who Dean had befriended. They were sitting around a table in the common room.

“I don’t care about that, I can handle it,” Dean beamed with confidence. Benny twiddled his thumbs.

“Oh, alright then.”

“Grownups don’t scare me,” Dean then added. “I just don’t wanna live with a bunch of rotten kids.”

“Yeah, but, Dean—you _are_ a rotten kid.”

“No way!”

Dean suddenly got to his feet and stormed away grudgingly. Benny remained. He knew Dean had an odd temper so this was nothing new.

“I don’t _wanna_ go to a stupid boarding school.”

The boy was grouching at himself the whole way as he went to his room. Some of the kids who were in the halls got out of his way, possibly expecting him to hit them or so (he had never been so outwardly violent, but he often broke objects and yelled, giving him the rough reputation).

Nearly to his room, Miss Jody popped out from around the corner and flagged him down. “Dean! Here!” she called, motioning with her hand for him to follow.

“Nuh-uh!” Dean argued. He only looked at her briefly then continued to his room. “Don’t care!”

He went inside and slammed the room, only to be greeted by the familiar, “Hello, Dean.”

“AAH!” Dean yelped. “Hey!”

“I did not intend to startle you. My apologies.”

The boy took a couple steps closer towards the Blue-Eyed man, lowering his voice so that others couldn’t hear him.

“You don’t have to apologize so much,” said Dean. “It’s like all you do is apologize.”

“It should not seem that way,” the Blue-Eyed man said in his usual raspy monotone.

“It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. So uh, why’re you here?”

“Good news is on the way.”

Dean raised his eyebrows.

“Good news?” he repeated and the Blue-Eyed man nodded.

“Indeed. Go.”

He pointed over Dean and towards the door again.

“What?!” Dean yelped. “Seriously? But I don’t wanna…”

“ _Dean_ ,” the Blue-Eyed Man said in a softer voice. He stared at the boy and nodded once more. “ _Go_.”

“Fine, fine.”

His grumpiness returned and Dean left his room. He could only assume that the Blue-Eyed Man was already dissipated.

“Dean!” Miss Jody shouted. She was still standing in the hallway and now looked quite angry. “You come here when you’re called!”

“Ugh. Right.”

He dragged himself over to Miss Jody with his head hanging. When he looked up at her, he saw that she was smiling now. It was a strange smile he had never seen before.

“There’s someone here to see you,” she said.

“What? Who?”

Dean felt his stomach drop. Who could possibly want to see him? Or even know who he is?

Miss Jody stepped back and gave way for a man to walk through. He was pretty old, as far as Dean could tell, with a short beard and a baseball cap over the rest of his face. He had on a flannel shirt and messed up blue jeans. All Dean could think was that, “this guy is _cool_.”

“Hey there, boy,” the man said. Dean stood his ground.

“Hey…”

Then Miss Jody turned to Dean and explained, “This is Mr. Singer. He’s interested in adopting you.”


	3. Free Bird

Being adopted was, naturally, the greatest thing that had happened to Dean yet. While he thought the future was bleak, Mr. Singer popped in at just the right time and took him away to a much better place.

“That’s it, I’m out, I’m done!” Dean said cheerily to Benny, who was less than thrilled at his adoption.

“Not coming back ever?” he asked. Dean shook his head.

“Nope.”

“I’ll miss ya,” said Benny.

“Yeah, I’ll miss you, too. See ya.”

Dean slung the small bag of personal affects over his shoulder and gave Benny a final wave goodbye before heading down the hallway. Mr. Singer was doing paperwork with a higher up official at the orphanage, but they were nearly done. Some time had been spent earlier getting to know each other and it was obvious they were a good match. Mr. Singer, or Bobby as he wanted to be called, was pretty funny and held Dean’s attention well. The first thing he talked about was cars, and Dean was hooked on him from then on.

“Alright, Dean,” said Bobby. He came out of the office with some papers and smiled. “Looks like we’re golden.”

“Really?”

“Mmhm.”

“Cool.”

Dean left his orphanage for the final time that day. Bobby was by his side, hands in his pockets as they wandered to the front parking lot. Dean had never seen most of that area. He had only gone out the backdoor and looked through the front windows occasionally. It wasn’t all that bad.

“Here ya go, boy,” Bobby said, gesturing to an old car.

“Is this _yours_?” Dean asked with his eyes growing wide.

“Yep.”

Dean got in the front seat with ease. He had been growing quickly and was tall enough to sit in there without any difficulties. Bobby got in and started the engine. It revved up and roared like a lion.

“A mustang?” Dean asked.

“Yep.”

As they began to drive, Dean realized that Bobby must have traveled quite far to the orphanage. They were on the road long enough to stop for dinner and go well into the night. A couple times Dean spotted the Blue-Eyed man in the back seat, but as soon as he looked he would vanish.

Dean was falling asleep when they finally made it home. The car stopped, the engine was shut off and Bobby said “We’re here, Dean. Your new home.”

“Huh? Oh!”

The boy startled awake and spilled out of the car. He was standing in a sea of vehicles, mostly classics that needed a lot of work. Clearly Bobby owned a garage where we worked on cars.

Near the back, there was a ruddy looking house. It didn’t matter to Dean, anywhere that wasn’t the orphanage would be home, and obviously Bobby cared an awful lot about Dean to bring him that far (and likely paid a considerable amount of scratch).

“I knew I’d come home with a kid today, so I’ve been settin’ up a room for ya.”

“Really?” Dean asked, following Bobby through the lot. Clearly the man was a mechanic and made a good business out of it.

“Yep.”

They stepped up onto the porch and creaked beneath their weight. Bobby opened the door and Dean went in ahead. The house was cool—filled with all sorts of knick-knacks that no doubt told a million neat stories from around the world. It was cluttered no doubt, but Dean felt more at home than ever before. No crowds of noisy, sad children. No supervisors running around and snapping at Dean. Yeah, this was good. Real good.

Bobby showed Dean to his room, which was upstairs and across the hallway from Bobby’s. There was a bathroom in the hall that was just for him.

After Dean dropped his bag off in his new space (which had barely anything in it aside from a bed, a dresser, one window and a little table) he went back into the hallway and looked at the framed pictures on the wall. There were a whole bunch of snapshots with Bobby and kids. As Dean walked on, Bobby got younger and the pictures got crappier.

“Kids I’ve fostered,” Bobby said.

“What d’you mean?”

“I’ve been doin’ this for a long, long time,” Bobby explained. “Goin’ around the country and findin’ good kids to take care of.”

“Like me? I’m a good kid?” Dean thought he might be blushing.

“I think so,” said Bobby.

“Uhh, thanks.”

Dean wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Everyone at the orphanage said he was rotten, ill-mannered and a bad seed. Bobby smiled at him. It seemed he understood everything Dean was thinking.

“Get some shut-eye,” said the man. “Tomorrow we’ll buy ya some more clothes, and we can start on yer new life.”

“Okay…thanks.”

Feeling overwhelmed, Dean returned to his room and sat down on the bed. He pulled his knees to his chest and hugged them. He thought that maybe Bobby wasn’t real. Maybe it was all a dream and he would wake up at any minute. There was no way that his life could have made such a drastic, positive change like that.

“Dean.”

He snapped out of his thoughts immediately when he heard the voice. Looking up, the Blue-Eyed man was sitting beside him on the bed. He had his usual worn face and indifferent expression.

“I don’t want Bobby to hear me talking to you,” Dean whispered.

“He won’t hear us right now,” the Blue-Eyed man said. He looked at Dean and blinked. “This is a good place for you.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.”

“I know it is.”

Dean looked down at his hands and sighed. “How?” he asked stiffly.

“Because I know many things that you do not.”

“Like what?”

The Blue-Eyed man stared at Dean with greater intent now. He was so serious looking get his eyes were soft and compassionate.

“As you begin to mature,” the man said, “You will find difficult changes ahead of you.”

“Changes? But I don’t wanna change.”

“I’m afraid you will,” the Blue-Eyed man said with a hint of sadness. “But you must not fear them. If you find yourself struggling, tell me and I will help.”

Dean didn’t like the sound of that. He hugged his legs tighter and made a little “umph” in response to the Blue-Eyed man, but it didn’t matter since he was already gone. Then the door opened up and Bobby stuck his head in.

“You okay, boy?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“Thought I heard ya talkin’.”

“I was. Just uh, just talking to myself.”

“Well alright. Again, try to sleep. If ya got any problems just let me know. I’m across th’hall. Night.”

“Night.”

* * *

“See these cars?”

“Yeah, I sure do!”

Dean and Bobby were out in the yard the following morning. They stood before all of the junkers laying around.

“This is what I’ve done with all my foster kids,” Bobby went on to explain. “They pick a car they like an’ I’ll teach ‘em how to fix it up. By the time they’re old enough to drive, it’s usually done an’ they can take it with ‘em.”

“Really?!” Dean beamed.

“Yep. So go on, pick ‘un that ya like.”

Ecstatic and hardly believing what he heard, Dean started walking around all of the cars. Every one of them looked cool, it was impossible to decide.

“What’s this one?” Dean asked, pointing to one of them.

“’72 Dodge Dart.”

“This?”

“’65 Chevy Nova.”

“What about that?”

“’71 Olds.”

Then Dean stopped walking. His mouth dropped. He saw _her_. The perfect car. Absolutely perfect.

She was long and black with four doors, probably the biggest sedan on the lot. Obviously she needed a whole lot of work and most of the body was rusted, a window in the back was smashed but Dean saw through all of that. Even at twelve years old, he could see how beautiful that car was underneath it all.

“’67 Chevy Impala,” said Bobby, walking up behind Dean slowly. He folded his arms and made a positive grunt. “Had her on this lot fer years. Seemed none of the kids ever wanted her.”

“What! Why not?!”

It was as if little Dean took personal offense at the years of the car’s rejection.

“Too big, too much work. They want easier lookin’ cars. An’ I can’t blame ‘em. This baby’s gonna take a real lifelong commitment. She won’t even start anymore.”

Dean nodded with great confidence.

“Ya sure?” Bobby asked, smiling at the boy.

“Yeah I’m sure. I want this one!”

“All yers, Dean.”

He was still a little too young to begin working on the Impala, but Bobby was starting to teach him all the basics. While Bobby worked on customers’ cars, Dean stood close by and watched, listening to the details that Bobby rambled on with.

It was so much better than living at the orphanage. Cars made sense to him. They smelled good. They sounded good. He enjoyed learning about them with Bobby. It was all he wanted to do. His brain soaked the information up like a sponge, and it was even better once he was old enough to work on them!

He was fourteen now, already pushing on six feet tall. He was maturing quickly, very quickly, which surprised Bobby. It was good, though. Bobby saw the boy blossoming into a brilliant young mechanic.

“Alright, give ‘er a try.”

Dean put the key into the Impala’s ignition and tried to start. The engine rattled.

“Give it a bit ‘a gas. Pump the pedal.”

“Right.”

Tongue between his teeth, Dean did exactly as Bobby said. He tried the key again and in a great roar, the engine started up.

“YEAAAAAAAH!” Dean shouted. “Whooo!”

“Alright, boy!” Bobby laughed. “There ya go! Never thought I’d see the day!”

The engine smelled heavily of old gasoline as she went _ruh-muh-puh ruh-muh-puh_ in an idling state. Dean accelerated a bit more and she roared.

“Ugggh, _that_ is a good sounding car, huh?” Dean asked.

“Sure is. But that’s just step one. Why don’cha cut her off and call it a day?”

“Okay, okay.”

A little disappointed but generally pleased, Dean turned the car off and headed inside. He grabbed one of the auto show magazines by the door and went up to his room. Lying on his back, he held the magazine over himself and tried to page through without dropping it. There was a pimped out El Camino that he laughed out, then a sleek, red Dodge Challenger that looked pretty good. He really wanted to see another Impala, to get an idea of how she’d look once he finished her. But instead, he turned the page and found a woman standing in front of a pick-up truck with frilly lingerie on. Dean took a deep breath as he looked her over. It was nice. Was it wrong?

“Hello, Dean.”

“AAH!”

Dean threw the magazine to the floor and saw the Blue-Eyed man standing beside the bed.

“I said not to come into my room like that!” Dean hissed.

“Forgive me,” said the Blue-Eyed man. “I know it has been some time since I have seen you, and I want to check on your progress. How are you feeling?”

“Good, I guess,” said Dean. He looked at the Blue-Eyed man and swallowed tightly. There was something different about him but Dean couldn’t quite place what.

“I am glad, then,” the man said. He gazed at Dean. “You are growing up quickly.”

“Y-yeah, I _guess_.”

The Blue-Eyed man cocked his head. “There is nothing troubling you?”

“Don’t think so.”

“Very well.”

He vanished as quickly as he came, but Dean had a sour look on his face. He frowned. He was confused. The Blue-Eyed man had been talking to him as far back as he could remember, but he never looked different. What happened?

Dean closed his eyes and put his hands behind his head. The Blue-Eyed man…who was he? An imaginary friend who was sticking around? That didn’t make sense.

Dean smiled. It didn’t much matter who he was, right? Because, well…

“OH…”

That was it.

The Blue-Eyed man was actually kind of _hot._


	4. Aches and Pains

It was difficult for Dean to get through the next few months. His body ached and he was confused in his thoughts. The Blue-Eyed man? Well, Dean couldn’t get him out of his head. In fact, he began asking questions to himself he hadn’t considered before.

Who was the Blue-Eyed man?

Was he a hallucination?

Was he human?

As Dean grew up, he assumed the Blue-Eyed man would disappear in time. It didn’t seem to be going that way, though. Granted, his appearances were less and less frequent these days, but whenever he popped by, Dean would flush with embarrassment.

“How are you?” the Blue-Eyed man asked one day, while Dean was cleaning up his hands in the bathroom.

“Fine,” Dean said shortly. He kept his eyes focused on the running tap

“Have you been experiencing anything unpleasant?”

“Yeah, actually.”

“I’m sorry. Are you adapting well?”

Dean cleared his throat. He couldn’t understand why a mysterious man would be talking to him about puberty.

“I guess…”

“Please tell me if you need help,” said the Blue-Eyed man.

Dean turned the water off and dried his hands. In the vanity mirror over the sink, he saw the Blue-Eyed man looked at him. His eyes were tired. He frowned. His shoulders drooped and he was slightly dirty.

“You okay?” Dean asked. He turned around and looked at the man straight on.

“Yes, but…I appreciate you asking.”

“Just this whole time I’ve never seen you look any _different_ ,” said Dean. He looked the Blue-Eyed man up and down, wondering how his body was beneath the heavy trench coat. He shifted on his heels uncomfortably.

“Things happen,” said the man. “But I am not worried.”

“Well, okay…”

He was gone before Dean could get another word in. With a disgruntled sigh, Dean plopped down onto the closed toilet and drummed his fingers on his knees. Bobby had been pretty good about leaving him alone and not asking why he was talking to himself. Sometimes Dean wondered if Bobby could hear the Blue-Eyed man speaking.

Dean left the bathroom and headed downstairs. Aside from puberty and the Blue-Eyed man, work was going well on the Impala. She was up and running, leaving only bodywork to be done now. Bobby had ordered some pieces that they were going to pick up that day.

“Dean?” Bobby called out from the living room.

“Yeah?”

“You ready ta’ head out?”

“Yeah, sure.”

The two of them left the house and took Bobby’s Chevelle through town. Dean was well familiar with all of the auto stores in town. They stopped at Harvelle’s Body Supply. It was a ruddy looking place, family owned probably because they couldn’t hire anybody who could figure out the system. Shelves full of parts filled each wall, running pretty high to the ceiling where a ladder would be needed. At the front desk there was a guy in his twenties, grinning big when he saw Bobby come in. His name was Ash, and Dean only knew him from local events. It had been about a year since he had seen him or his sister, Jo.

“Ah, Bobby Singer!” Ash said, rapping his fists on the desk. “Just the man I wanted to see.”

“Got my order in?” Bobby asked.

“Sure do, sure do. All good to go, my man. If you can just—siiiign—here!”

Ash fumbled through a drawer on his side of the counter and pulled out an invoice. Bobby took up a pen and signed messily. Ash’s eyes fell on Dean.

“How’ve you been, Dean?” he asked.

“I’m good.”

“Sweet deal,” Ash said, chuckling. He took the invoice from Bobby and went to the back room. “Be right back.”

Bobby turned to Dean and said, “I think we can get it in my car jus’ fine.”

“Okay,” said Dean. He was feeling slightly awkward.

Then Ash came back. He had a giant, flat cardboard box that he dragged along the floor. He grunted as he pulled.

“A-alright!” Ash shouted. “Got it. Here ya go.”

“Help us out?” Bobby asked. Ash nodded and everyone took a side of the box. They were able to lift it up and bring it out to the car. The package was stowed in the backseat, taking up an incredible amount of room, which included blocking the rear window.

“Thanks,” said Bobby.

Ash nodded and went back into the shop. His sister was in view now. She was blonde, thin and pretty. Dean knew she was younger than Ash, and guessed about his own age. They began talking rather animatedly and Ash pointed back to Dean through the window. Jo immediately flushed and ran away, covering her face. Bobby laughed from inside the car.

“What?” Dean asked.

“Don’ tell me you haven’t noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

Bobby started the engine and they began driving home. He continued to chuckle but Dean was totally oblivious.

“Jo,” the older man said.

“What about her?” Dean asked, brow furrowed.

“She’s sweet on ya.”

“ _Sweet_ on me?”

“Yeah, she likes ya.”

“I don’t get it,” Dean said, folding his arms. Bobby just shook his head.

The car turned down a street which led out of the main shopping district. They passed a few people on bikes. Some folks were jogging. Dean leaned against the window and looked at them absentmindedly. Then, all of the sudden, one of the joggers caught Dean’s attention and her eyes blinked solid black.

“What?!” Dean shouted.

“What is it, boy?” Bobby asked. All of the humor dropped from his voice, since Dean’s reaction was uncontrolled.

“I just…”

Dean looked back at the woman. Her eyes were normal. She kept jogging.

“Never mind.”

After they got home, Dean said he wasn’t interested in doing any more work on the car. His excuse was that he was feeling tired, but in all honesty he was a little upset about the incident with the jogger. He _swore_ that her eyes had turned black. Replaying it in his mind verified its legitimacy. She stared at him and her eyes blinked black. It was weird, weirder than anything he had seen before which was saying a lot.

His stomach hurt. He rested for a bit, dozed off but had bad dreams. Upon waking he forgot them all, which was probably a good thing, but the memory of the black eyes was fresh on his mind.

He went downstairs and popped in on the shop. Bobby was underneath a car on the lift with a droplight. CCR was playing over a ruddy eight track.

“Hey, Bobby?” Dean called out.

“Yeah?”

_Clink! Clonk!_

Bobby was tweaking something underneath there. Dean said nothing.

“You doin’ alright there, boy?”

“Yeah…”

“Feelin’ any better?”

“A little.”

A man wearing a suit walked into the shop, hands in his pockets. Dean guessed he was probably in his 30s. He stood at the end of the car and asked in a clear voice, “So? How does it look?”

“Ah,” Bobby began, no doubt surprised by the other man’s presence, “Nothin’ to worry ‘bout here.”

“Excellent.”

Bobby brought the car down from the lift then backed it out of the garage. The man stood on the sidelines the entire time, sometimes looking over at Dean.

“Lemme just ring ya up in the office over here. That work?”

“Certainly.”

They left the garage and Dean followed them. He was feeling awkward, very awkward. While his body was growing at a rapid rate, his mind seemed to be lagging. He still felt like a kid even though he was starting to look like a young man. Did anybody else notice?

The man in the suit took a chair across from Bobby at the desk. A receipt was printed out and the man put a few marks on it with a pen.

“An’ sign right here,” said Bobby. His entire life consisted of invoices and signatures.

“Wonderful, I appreciate it,” the man said. Then he turned to Dean and asked, “Is this your assistant?”

“Could say that,” Bobby said, beaming with bride. Dean felt weird. “He’s my foster son.”

  
“Aah,” the man cooed with a nod. He made a weird smirk that Dean didn’t like. “Excellent.”

“Welp, yer good to go,” Bobby said. He offered to shake the man’s hand but was refused. Instead, he stood up, dusted off his suit and turned to leave.

“Goodbye, I suppose,” said the man.

Bobby’s attention was back on the computer but Dean was watching the man. He left through the front door, then waved with a suspicious stare through the window. He blinked and his eyes momentarily turned black before walking out of view.

“AAH!” Dean yelled. He covered his face. Bobby looked up immediately.

“What’s it now, boy?” he asked urgently.

“I thought…”

“What?”

“Its…”

“Dean?”

The young man stood up and shook his head. “Nothing!” he reassured Bobby and himself. But fear was heavy in his heart. He went back up to his room and didn’t leave for the rest of the day.


	5. Not My Sort of Thing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've upgraded the rating to Explicit, just to be safe. I hope this isn't an issue for anyone. I'm not sure what sort of sex scenes there will be, and there likely won't be many, but I've decided it's better to keep it Explicit in case I want to make things real graphic. Better safe than sorry, I'd say. Thanks!

The following couple of years were particularly difficult for Dean. The people with black eyes became increasingly prevalent, so much that Dean was turning reclusive. Why were these people everywhere? What were they doing? Where was the Blue-Eyed man?

Two years passed and Dean didn’t see him man at all. He deduced two possibilities; the man was a hallucination and Dean’s madness was evolving, or the man was of ill-intent and he heralded the first wave of evil. Could he even be evil? The people with _black_ eyes certainly seemed so.

By the time he turned eighteen, only two great things had happened to him; he got his driver’s license and finished the Impala. She was beautiful now, the car that Dean had dreamed of when he first saw her on Bobby’s lot.

But Dean didn’t like driving her too much. He _wanted_ to, but the fear of black-eyed people was overwhelming. There was a deep sensation in his chest that told him they would attack him if he wasn’t careful. So he stayed home most of the time.

Bobby was having trouble with his knees and required the assistance of a cane now, which greatly hurt his ability to work. The good news was the Dean could work fulltime at the shop. He was perfectly capable of handling almost any car issue, especially if Bobby was on back-up. The older man mostly stayed in the office and took care of the customers, so Dean could remain in the garage. Dean certainly hadn’t told Bobby about the people with black eyes, or even the Blue-Eyed man. He kept that all to himself in fear of seeming mental (because, after all, he may have been).

Either way, Bobby picked up on some of it. He knew Dean was awkward around people, despite having decent social skills, and he could tell that the boy was scared to go out. Scared might even be the wrong word, since Dean wouldn’t call himself a coward. Unfortunately it looked that way, and to Bobby’s great disappointment, he was afraid that keeping Dean out of school was to blame for his behavior.

“Okay, done.”

Dean talked to himself as he slammed the hood of a Honda shut, then went to the sink and washed up his hands. There was a small mirror, which had likely once lived on a motorcycle of something, propped up on the side that he could see half of his face in. He was eighteen, a legal adult. His body had matured nicely in his teenage years, standing at 6’1” with lean muscle. The two aspects he hated about himself were his freckles and his bowlegs. Maybe his eyelashes.

“ _Dean!"_

Bobby called out from the office and the young man immediately dried his hands and ran off to him.

“Yeah?”

“Done with that battery?”

“Sure am,” Dean said with a grin. “Easy.”

“Great. Why don’cha pop down to the sub shop and pick up our lunch order? I thought I’d be good but this knee is givin’ me hell today.”

“Yeah, no problem, I got it. When did you call it in?”

“Fifteen minutes. Should be ready by th’ time ya get there.”

“Okay.” Dean patted the car keys in his pocket. “Be right back.”

He got in his Impala and revved the engine with joy. It was always a pleasure to be in that car; the smell of the leather and the gas burning in the engine; the texture of the steering wheel in his fist and the smooth hum of classic rock over the radio. For someone like Dean, who had shied away from dating and romance all together, it was almost sexual.

The car was parked in front of _Best! Subs_ and Dean went inside, wallet clutched in his hand. He went up to the greasy counter and paid for the order. The guy behind the register smiled at him, but not nearly as much as the following patron.

“Hi, Dean…”

It was Jo, Ash’s sister. Dean saw her from time to time but not nearly as much lately, since he had been staying inside more. She was a senior in high school now, she didn’t drive and she usually dressed like a boy even though she wore make-up and kept her hair long. That’s all Dean knew about her.

“Hey.”

“Busy working?”

“Yeah.”

Dean didn’t have anything against her. In fact, he thought she was a pretty nice girl. Unfortunately he wasn’t tactful enough to see that Jo wanted to be much more than friends with him.

“I’m on my lunch from school,” Jo said. She went to the counter now and picked up her order. It was four subs, so obviously she was bringing some back for friends. “How have you been?”

“Good.”

“I haven’t seen you in a while.”

“Yeah, I know,” Dean muttered, looking down at the bag of subs in his hand. “Just…busy, I guess.”

“You should come around more. You know, um, well…”

Jo’s face turned bright red and she had difficulty looking at Dean.

“You okay?” Dean asked.

“Y-yeah. Um, I just thought, well, prom is coming up and I don’t have anyone to go with.”

“ _Prom?”_

“Uh huh. That’s the big school dance near the end of the year.”

Dean cleared his throat real loud. “Y’know that isn’t exactly my sort of thing, right?”

“I know!” Jo answered quickly, appearing even more embarrassed now. “It’s not really mine, either, but all my friends are going and it’s just an important thing. Um, would you go with me?”

“I guess so,” Dean said slowly, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation. Jo turned all smiles.

“Really?!”

“Yeah, if it’s that important for you.”

“I’m so happy!”

“Sure,” said Dean. He smiled a little, but uncertainty remained.

“It’s May 12th!” Jo squealed. “Will you pick me up? Because I don’t drive?”

“Yeah, okay.”

“Thank you, Dean!”

Jo practically danced out of the sub shop, leaving Dean stupefied. He didn’t quite understand what was going on, but when he returned to the garage and told Bobby, things became slightly clearer.

“Really? Good fer you, boy,” Bobby said, smirking. He unwrapped his Italian cold cut on the counter and chuckled. “Was startin’ ta think ya didn’t have it in ya.”

“Didn’t have what?” Dean asked rather innocently from behind his steak and cheese.

“Y’know… _girls_ …”

Dean’s eyes widened. He assumed they were going to prom as friends, because he figured they were friends and he definitely wasn’t attracted to Jo. She wasn’t _ugly_ , he just had never felt that way for any woman. He did, however, have strange feelings for the Blue-Eyed man, which made that situation all the more stressful.

“Oh,” was all Dean said. He took a bite of the sub and chewed pensively. He couldn’t call the prom off, right? Jo was _so_ happy that he agreed to it. Then again…

“But are you gonna be okay goin’ to a place like that?” Bobby asked.

“What d’you mean, ‘like that’?”

“Crowded. Noisy. Full a’ people. I thought that sorta thing made you real uncomfortable.”

“It _does_ ,” Dean said, taking a stiff, deep breath, “But I’ll be fine.”

“If yer sure.”

* * *

May 12th came quickly, of course. It was a few weeks away when Jo asked him, and with what felt like a few days, it arrived.

Now, Jo’s mother, Ellen, did not like Dean. She was pretty irate that she was going with the “weird Singer boy” and made sure that Jo would never live it down.

Two minutes ‘til seven on the night of the twelfth, Jo was all done up and standing by the window, waiting for Dean’s Impala to roll up. She clutched a small white purse to her chest, eyes wide, heart pounding. Ellen paced the carpet behind her.

“You be careful with him,” she warned. “It’s not that I don’t _trust_ Bobby to raise a kid, but all of those foster boys have been a little off.”

“I think they were nice guys,” said Jo.

“Nice enough,” Ellen huffed. “But there’s somethin’ not right about a kid that don’t go to school!”

Jo just rolled her eyes. Tonight was not the time for her mother to be nagging her ear off, even if she was right. Instead, Dean Winchester was coming to take her to the prom. He was _so_ much more handsome than the other boys at her school and probably the tallest, too.

 _Ruh-muh-puh, ruh-muh-puh, ruh-muh-puh_ …

The engine of Dean’s Impala could be heard from inside the house as he pulled up into the driveway. Ellen dashed up to the door and opened it violently, leering out to get a glimpse of the boy in the car. His eyes were wide, looking confused and a bit embarrassed while his fingers drummed absentmindedly on the steering wheel.

“Okay! I’m going! Bye, ma!” Jo squealed as her heeled feet leaped out the door. Ellen folded her arms and shot a condescending look.

“Be careful,” was all she said before closing the door.

“Dean!”

Jo got in the passenger’s side and sat down happily. Dean looked her over. It was strange seeing Jo in a dress, but even stranger was how Dean wore a flannel shirt with jeans. Jo took note of that immediately and her face fell into a mope.

“Why are you dressed like that?!” she whined.

“Like what? I always dress like this. Why are _you_ dressed like _that_?”

“Because it’s prom! You’re supposed to wear a suit!”

“You should’ve told me.”

Jo sighed.

“No, you’re right,” she said sadly. “I should have.”

“You still wanna go?”

“Yeah, of course I do.”

She forced a smile and Dean drove off. Ellen was still seen standing in front of the window with her arms folded.

Now Dean felt even dumber, but of all the things to be self-conscious about, what bothered him the most was how much deeper his voice was than Jo’s. Puberty had given him a scruffy, grumpy tone while Jo’s remained high, smooth and sweet. He was a little jealous.

When they got to the school and Dean saw how everyone was dressed, he first felt stupid but then he realized it was nice to be comfortable as himself. Plaid was him. That’s what he liked and what he always wore. So maybe he had a black t-shirt underneath it, but that was just for comfort. Style didn’t concern Dean at all.

“Ready?” he asked Jo, who sat in the chair with a nervous look on her face.

“I guess.”

They left the car and headed inside to the gym, where the dance had been set up. Loud music that Dean had always wanted to avoid blared over the speaker system. Strobe lights and disco balls twinkled everywhere. Awkward kids stood around the middle of the floor and pretended to dance. Dean reveled in the fact that he didn’t look like a penguin, even though some of the guys looked alright.

“There’s my friends,” Jo said rather unenthusiastically, pointing to a group of girls. The boys they were with looked like they had been dragged there, too. They flagged Jo down and immediately swarmed.

At first, their faces looked as if to say, “oh my _god_ what’s with your _date?!_ ” until they realized who it was.

“Dean?” one of the girls asked. She grew just as giddy as Jo had been when she asked him out. “Dean Singer?”

“It’s not Singer,” Dean corrected, talking loudly over the obnoxious pop music. “It’s Winchester.”

“Ooooo,” all of the girls hooted. Their dates looked at each other.

“Dean Winchester?” another girl asked. He noticed just then that they all looked at him with big, hungry eyes.

“Uh, yeah,” Dean said quickly. He felt strange. He didn’t like all of that attention, but Jo was acting confident in her choice of man.

It didn’t take Dean very long to conclude that his original theory was correct, and a prom was absolutely no place for him. The music was horrible, the food was horrible (“No whiskey?” Dean asked. “But Dean, you aren’t even 21!”) and the people were the most horrible. Everyone was so stupidly happy acting that it made Dean want to vomit. He also noted that not one of the girls there was pleasing to him. And, to make everything worse, he was of course worried that some of the folks might end up having black eyes.

“Jo, I can’t take this any longer,” Dean admitted after she tried to make him dance for the third time.

“Really?” she asked, staring at him. Her lips thinned and she sighed.

“Y-yeah, I’m sorry, but I gotta go.”

“Okay…”

Defeated, Jo said goodbye to her friends, all of which said long, flirty farewells to Dean, then left the school and headed towards the car. While they were standing in the parking lot, Jo stopped and grabbed Dean’s arm lightly.

“Huh?” Dean asked, turning to face her.

“Dean…”

The girl looked up at him with sparkles in her eyes (or maybe it was the lights from the parking lot), and parted her lips.

“Did you have a good time, even though that sort of place isn’t fun for you?”

“I guess,” said Dean, trying to be polite. Jo put her arms around Dean’s waist and hugged him, still looking into his eyes. Dean felt uncomfortable.

“Did you have a good time with _me_?” she asked.

“Yeah, I guess so. Not sure about your friends, though.”

“Sorry.”

Dean nodded. “’S okay.”

They didn’t say anything for a moment. Jo inched closer.

“Prom is a special night for girls,” she said.

“How so?”

“Well…”

With the advantage of her high heels, Jo just had to rock forward a little bit and she’d be close to Dean’s lips. She closed her eyes and went in for a kiss, what would be Dean’s first kiss, but Dean backed out of it. Jo almost lost her balance but Dean propped her up.

“Don’t get so close,” he said.

Immediately, Jo’s face turned bright red and she looked both angry and humiliated.

“DEAN!” she yelled, folding her arms. She looked just like her mother standing in the window. “I’m trying to kiss you!”

“But I don’t wanna be kissed!” Dean blurted out.

Clearly unsure of how to react, Jo let out a scream of disappointment and suddenly ran back inside the school. “Hey!” Dean yelled. “Damn it…ah…”

Then he felt another hand on his back. He turned around quickly and saw a girl he didn’t recognize.

“How did you—“

“Don’t worry about her,” the girl said. She was about his age with long dark hair, dressed in a dress that made Jo’s look like a burqa.

“I don’t get it!”

“You’re the boy that doesn’t go here, huh?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Everyone knows,” the young woman said with a smirk. “It’s obvious, too. Who doesn’t wear a suit to prom?”

Dean looked down at himself. “Yeah, about that…”

“No worries,” the girl said. “Anyway, just so you know, prom is special because it’s the night most girls get their first kiss.”

“And she wanted it with me?”

“Sure she did. Who _wouldn’t_?”

Dean shook his head. “I didn’t realize. Man, I feel like a real asshole now.”

“I think she’ll get over it,” the girl said, looking around Dean and at the front of the school. “But why wouldn’t you want to kiss her? She’s cute, isn’t she?”

“I guess? She doesn’t do anything for me.”

“Oh, I see. That’s too bad. But would you want a first kiss tonight?”

Dean swallowed stiffly. The girl stood her ground and grinned. She put her hands on Dean’s arms and gripped a little too tight. When Dean tried to back away, her eyes blinked solid black.

“HEY!” Dean shouted. “HEE-EEY!”

“Now I’ve got you, the Winchester boy!” the girl hissed. She let off one arm and punched Dean in the face. He took the hit with a loud gasp.

“Damn!” he yelled. What could he do? Hit a woman in front of a school he doesn’t even go to? He decided running back to his car was the best bet.

“Don’t run, little boy!” the girl growled. She gave chase after him and Dean quickly learned that he couldn’t possibly outrun her. She sprang onto his back and knocked him to the ground. He let out a tense breath upon impact.

“DAMN!” Dean yelled.

The girl, or woman, or whatever she was, began punching and punching the back of his head, then she grabbed it and pounded him against the sidewalk. Dean tried to move but she had him pinned to the ground real well, and this person was stronger than humanly possible.

Then, all of the sudden, there was a high-pitched tone and Dean saw a great bright light. It was soft blue. It pinged and buzzed loudly, and immediately the assailant began to scream. She let go of Dean’s head and covered her own ears, crying and cursing loudly.

Dean was able to turn over, despite the blood and bruising on his face. He saw a mass of glowing mist, swirling into a human shape. Then it all disappeared, the high-pitched tone faded, and the Blue-Eyed man came into focus. Dean froze.

“HE’S TETHERED!” The girl cried out. Blood was running from her eyes. “HE’S TETHERED!!!”

The Blue-Eyed man, fiercely on a mission, walked up to the cowering girl and clapped his hand to her forehead. She instantly burst into flames with a piercing, “AAAAAAAAAAAIIII!!!” and was reduced to ash.

“Wh-wha…”

Dean couldn’t speak. He was terrified. One of the people with black eyes had attacked, just like his gut told him, and now the Blue-Eyed man was back. Had any of it truly happened? Was the Blue-Eyed man good or evil?

“Dean,” the man said, turning to him. He took a few steps closer, trench coat flailing in the air behind him as he walked, then stooped to Dean’s level and put two fingers out to touch his head.

“DON’T!” Dean screamed. “OH, GOD, DON’T!”

“There is no reason to be afraid,” said the Blue-Eyed man.

His fingers, oddly warm, touched Dean’s forehead and all of the pain went away. The blood, the bruises, the scratches and anything else that the weird girl had done was all gone.

“Ah…”

The Blue-Eyed man was squatting beside Dean, tilting his head and staring at him with great concern. “Are you alright, Dean?”

“I guess…what the heck just happened…”

His face unchanged, the Blue-Eyed man narrowed his eyes and said, “It was a demon.”


	6. Tomes and Bones

“A _what?_ ”

Still on the ground and holding himself up on his elbows, Dean stared at the Blue-Eyed man in disbelief.

“A demon.”

“What’re you _talking_ about?”

“Come,” said the Blue-Eyed man.

He got to his feet and began to walk away quickly. Dean let out a sound of urgency and quickly followed suit.

“Hold on!” Dean shouted. “What the hell are you talking about?”

The Blue-Eyed man had a look of determination on his face as he cut through the cars, heading towards the Impala. Dean kept up as best as he could, glaring at the Blue-Eyed man. He had far too many questions.

“Hell. Indeed.”

When they reached the Impala, Dean was instructed to get inside and he did so, then the Blue-Eyed man watched Dean and awkwardly got into the passenger’s side. He held his open hand towards the door and motioned to himself, which caused it to slam itself shut. Considering everything Dean had just experienced, telekinetic powers was the last thing on his list of things to ask.

“You must drive,” said the Blue-Eyed man. “You need to be home, and soon, for you will be leaving shortly.”

“Leaving?!” Dean gasped.

He started the engine and backed out of his space. Some people were starting to come out of the school, but obviously nobody had seen what happened. Dean couldn’t help but wonder if any of it had happened. The pain and the healing, however, were very, very real.

“It’s not safe for you to stay here anymore,” the Blue-Eyed man continued. “The demons have found you. There will be more, and nobody is safe.”

“Can you _please_ explain what’s going on?”

It was difficult for Dean to focus on driving. In the midst of demon attacks and mysterious blue lights, Dean was still harboring odd feelings for the Blue-Eyed man. They paused momentarily at a light and Dean got a good look at him. He seemed to have aged just a bit since they last spoke, almost two years earlier, yet his hair was still a frazzled mess of short, dark hay and his eyes were the usual piercing blue, heavily hooded with bags beneath them. His jaw was broad and difficult to describe; from the front he had a round face with well-pronounced features. It was possible the he had Slavic origins.

“The demons have been searching for you,” the Blue-Eyed man explained. “Now that they have confirmed your location, they will hunt you until you’re dead.”

“What?!” Dean yelled. The light changed and he hit the gas. His fingers tensed on the steering wheel. “Why? Why me?!”

“I cannot divulge such information.”

“Why not?”

“Because…”

They pulled up into Bobby’s garage and Dean took his usual space along the side. He shut off the engine and looked to the Blue-Eyed man, who was gazing at his hands in his lap. They were nice hands.

“Because I am sworn to a soul pact.”

“A what?”

“A soul pact. It is a ritual that involves a member of my kind and a human to entwine their souls.”

“What d’you mean _your_ kind?”

The Blue-Eyed man looked at Dean sadly. “I cannot divulge such information,” he repeated in a softer voice. “But I can tell you this—every human in this town is in danger as long as you stay. If you leave, they will be spared from the demons. The longer you remain, the more lives will be lost. You must leave immediately.”

“Where am I gonna go?” Dean asked. The heaviness of leaving Bobby behind was starting to weigh on his shoulders. Was this really happening? Maybe he just should have kissed Jo.

“Take this.”

The Blue-Eyed man reached into his trench coat and pulled out a strange old book. It was bound with thick, dark red leather and had a large circle on the front that looked like black plastic. When he handed it to Dean, it was apparent that the circle was some sort of dark stone.

“What is it?” Dean asked, flipping through the book to reveal nothing but blank pages.

“A direction tome.”

“A what?”

“A _direction tome_ ,” The Blue-Eyed man repeated. “Place your hand upon the obsidian disc. When you are in desperate need for the place you must find next, directions shall be inscribed upon the pages.” Dean looked at the book oddly. “This is a relic which is difficult to come by. You should be thanking me.”

“Thanks,” Dean said softly. He looked at the Blue-Eyed man and tried to smile. “So I’m really leaving, huh?”

“You must. Please understand the severity of your situation.”

“And where will you be?”

“For now, I am keeping the demons away.”

“Okay…”

“You must prepare to leave. Please.”

The Blue-Eyed man disappeared after he spoke, leaving Dean alone in the car and with his thoughts. He looked at the direction tome in his lap. This certainly solidified whether or not the Blue-Eyed man was real. It seemed that Dean wasn’t crazy after all, and perhaps he was actually some special hero.

Just as the Blue-Eyed man had explained, Dean placed his hand over the obsidian circle. It didn’t feel special at all, just a cold, black stone. He wondered how long it should stay there, but after a couple seconds he took it off and looked inside the book. Nothing.

“Hmm…”

The inside cover had a small inscription written in thin letters. “ _I need direction_ ,” it said. Dean narrowed his eyes and closed the book, sucking his cheeks in. He replaced his hand over the stone and muttered, “I need direction.”

Suddenly the stone warmed. It glowed bright red around his fingers for a moment, then all of the sensations were cut off and it returned to being a blank, cold stone. Dean was taken aback but mostly impressed. He opened the first page of the tome and saw that, in the same writing as the inscription, a message said, “ _Home. Bed_.”

Shrugging with a little smirk, Dean agreed that sounded good and closed to book. He went inside the house, holding the tome carefully to his chest as he crept through. Bobby was no doubt asleep, and Dean figured he would pack up now but say his goodbyes in the morning. It was bound to devastate Bobby; how would he keep working without Dean in the garage?

It didn’t matter. If the Blue-Eyed man was right, by leaving Bobby alone he was saving a lot of people, and he could live with that. Bobby would likely understand anyway. Well, maybe. Either way, Dean packed up a little bag of necessaries then slept for the last time in his old bed. As he drifted off, he wondered what ever happened to Benny, his friend at the orphanage.

* * *

 

Morning came too soon. Dean woke up groggy, hoping that the incident with the demon girl and the Blue-Eyed man was just a dream, but when he saw the direction tome and his luggage, the truth dawned on him all over again. He heard Bobby downstairs and figured it was best to just get it over with.

“Hey, Bobby?”

“Mornin’,” Bobby said in his usual gruff. He was standing by the coffee pot, already dressed for the day.

“Hey um, we need to talk.”

“’Bout what?”

Bobby turned around and saw the direction tome in Dean’s hands. He also saw the bag and the look on the boy’s face. Fearing the worst, Dean braced himself.

“Oh,” Bobby said, looking disappointed. “Time already?”

“You know?” Dean asked.

The older man let out a long, tired sigh. He poured himself a cup of coffee then caned his way to the table in the kitchen. “Sit,” he said to Dean.

“How much do you know?” Dean asked, taking up a chair.

“Knew ya’d leave,” Bobby said. He took a sip of coffee and reacted as if it was acid. “Knew ya had a destiny to fulfill.”

“Destiny? What destiny?”

Bobby smiled sadly.

“You really think evry’thing in yer life has been a coincidence?”

“I dunno.”

“I knew what I was gettin’ into when I adopted ya. It’s fine. Just wish ya would’ve told me sooner.”

“I just found out about this, Bobby. I had no idea. I _still_ have no idea. All I know is that I’ve gotta leave, or demons are gonna kill everyone here.”

Bobby nodded as if Dean was describing something perfectly normal. Really? All this time Bobby knew about Dean? He felt a little bit betrayed.

“I know that look on yer face, and before you go feelin’ sorry fer yerself, lemme tell ya this—I was protectin’ ya. You didn’t need ta know all of that when you were a little boy.”

“I guess…”

“You’ll thank me one day.”

Dean slumped over in his chair. He didn’t want this to be happening.

“Well,” Bobby began, “Since it’s the big day, I figure I’ll give ya the big present I’ve been keepin’.”

“What present?”

Bobby finished his coffee and got to his feet. He slowly left the kitchen and into the study, where he had his desk cluttered with all sorts of papers. They were mostly car-related and Dean never bothered to poke around much.

“Here,” said Bobby. He took a small key out from the top desk and offered it to Dean.

“A key?”

“No, it’s a got-danged marmoset.” Dean looked puzzled. “’Course it’s a key, ya idgit.”

“Key to what?”

“Yer dad’s storage unit.”

“My _WHAT?!_ ”

Dean nearly dropped the key. He couldn’t believe the words he had just heard. Bobby sighed again and rolled his eyes beneath his ratty baseball cap.

“I know, I know. Yer mad ‘cause I knew yer dad.”

“You _knew_ my _dad_?”

“Look, I didn’t know him all that well, okay?”

“But you _knew_ my _dad_?”

Dean didn’t know whether to be angry or sentimental.

“Where is he now?”

“Dead, probably,” Bobby said casually. “Just keep that key, okay? Don’t ya dare lose it.”

“Where’s the storage unit?” Dean asked. It was hard for him to figure out which questions to ask. He wanted to know about his dad. He wanted to know why he died and why Bobby took so long to adopt him. Was the orphanage really necessary after all this time?

“Upstate New York,” said Bobby. “I’m sure that tome a’ yers will know where.”

“Oh…right…”

“Yer dad made me promise one thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Told me I had ta tell you somethin’ ‘bout that storage unit. It’s real important, alright? So listen carefully. Inside that unit, yer gonna find a whole bunch a’ garbage. It’s a plot. All just ta keep people away, okay?”

“Okay…”

“But there’s one thing in there that ya need. In fact, if ya don’t get it, yer gonna endanger th’ whole danged world.”

Dean swallowed stiffly. He dared to ask what the object was.

“Now, inside that storage unit yer gonna find—“

_CRASH!_

Without warning, the bay window in Bobby’s study burst open. Glass scattered everywhere and three people came storming in. Two of them went for Dean while the other tossed Bobby aside. The man was flung against the wall like a dog toy.

“BOBBY!” Dean shouted. He managed to get the key in his pocket before any of the people noticed.

“Deaaan Winchesterrrr,” one of the people who was now pinning Dean to the wall hissed. She looked delighted to be there, especially when her eyes blinked solid black.

“GAAAH!” Dean gasped. “FUUCK YOUUU!”

The two demons grappled at Dean and tried to bind up his arms with some sort of rope. He did everything he could to break free, but they were so much stronger than him that it was mostly useless. He heard the sounds of Bobby being beaten up by the other one, which was so painful to be subjected to.

“BOBBYYY!!” Dean cried out.

The demon fighting Bobby yelped and there was a loud booming sound, like a person being tossed against furniture so hard that it moved, but Dean couldn’t see beyond the two demons struggling with him. Then he heard Bobby’s voice over the noise.

“ _Deus, et pater Domini nostri Jesu Christi, invoco nomen sanetum tuum, et clementiam tuam supplex exposco—_ “

“RAAAAAAAAH!!”

All three of the demons began to bleed from their eyes once Bobby began to chant the Latin. They let off of Dean and clutched their own faces.

“FUCK!” One of them cursed.

Despite the pain and bleeding from his eyes, the demon closest to Bobby managed to sweep kick him and knock the man over. The Latin ceased and the demons got to their feet again.

“BOBBY!” Dean shouted. He tried to run over to the man, but the two demons stopped him.

“Is he precious to you, Dean Winchester?” the male demon by Bobby asked, grinning nastily. Bobby howled on the floor, clearly hurting in his knees.

“BOBBY!” was all Dean could yell. His voice was going hoarse from shouting.

“Well then,” the male demon said. He pulled a pistol out from his hip and aimed it at the older man. “Bye-bye, Bobby.”

**POW**

**POW**

**POW**

The sound of the bullets was unreal to Dean. It suspended the world around him and he seemed to have several moments of standing there, held between two demons as he watched his foster father get his head blown to smithereens. He didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t yell, he couldn’t cry. He couldn’t even kick the shit out of the demons since they were too strong.

“Look at him,” one of the female demons holding Dean giggled. She punched him in the face and he collapsed to the ground, nearing unconsciousness.

“Guuhh…”

This was it. He was too late. He was tied up and slumped on the floor, bleeding from his nose, just a few feet away from Bobby’s fresh corpse. The demons surrounded him, laughing, but the party came to a screeching halt as a sine wave resounded throughout the entire house. The demons all cried again.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” one of them screamed, trying to cover her ears.

The Blue-Eyed man was there. Better late than never, apparently.

“I’m not afraid,” the demon who had shot Bobby boasted. He turned towards the Blue-Eyed man and fired several rounds.

“Aaah!” The Blue-Eyed man hissed.

Holes pierced through his clothes and blood began to run out of them. He covered them with one hand as he winced in pain. His other hand pulled a long, thin blade from a place that Dean didn’t manage to see and he shoved it into the chest of one of the demons. Just as the girl who attacked Dean the night before, this demon burst into flames as she screamed.

The demon with the gun fired another shot at the Blue-Eyed man, this time at his neck. He made another sound of pain and glared at the demon. “Fool,” he groaned. “Surely you know that these are only superficial wounds.”

“You mean this human weapon can’t kill you?” the male demon asked facetiously.

The Blue-Eyed man raised his bloody hand from the wounds and motioned with two fingers, sending the gun flying from the demon’s hand.

“No,” he said sternly.

“Whoops,” said the demon. “I guess you’ll just have to kill me, then.”

“I plan to,” said the Blue-Eyed man.

He ran at the demon and clapped his hand over his forehead. The demon burst into flames and screamed, laughing though, as he turned into ash. Then the remaining demon, who had been on the ground, jumped behind the Blue-Eyed man and snatched the strange blade from his hand. Dean tried to shout but he was blinking in and out of consciousness so much that he could barely stay awake to watch.

“Die!” The demon yelled.

She thrust the blade forward, but the Blue-Eyed man dodged it. He turned around quickly and punched her in the face.

“Don’t try to trick me,” said the Blue-Eyed man. “I would think you were more clever than that.”

“Hah!”

The demon tried to stab the Blue-Eyed once more, but he dodged it again and punched her. Every time he tried to get his hand onto her head, she managed to jump out of the way as well. Their fighting looked more like a dance or series of taunts. Dean wanted to help so badly but he just couldn’t.

Then, the demon leaped to the side and slashed at the Blue-Eyed man’s arm. That sine wave cried out from the man and he immediately grabbed the wound. A blue light was beaming out of it. Dean struggled to stay awake.

“Die!” screamed the demon again, but the Blue-Eyed man was diligent.

Clutching his arm still, he managed to kick the blade out of the demon’s hand. She let out a sound of worry and the Blue-Eyed man sent another kick to her face. She fell backwards and he immediately grabbed up the blade again, then thrust it into her chest. She screamed and screamed as flames consumed her, then after turning into ash, the Blue-Eyed man stumbled over to Dean.

“I’m sorry,” he said, untying him. He touched Dean’s forehead and he healed, though not as well as before.

“What’s happening?” Dean muttered.

“I was too late,” said the Blue-Eyed man. He helped Dean up.

“Bobby…”

“I’m sorry, Dean.”

Dean hobbled over to the corpse and stared at it, tears streaming down his face now.

“You _must_ leave, Dean, _now_.”

The Blue-Eyed man made constant sounds of pain, clinging to his arm. A strange, sparkling blue liquid was gooping from the wound. Dean turned around and saw it.

“What’s that? What happened to you?”

“I’m hurt,” the Blue-Eyed man bleated. “I must go.”

“Wait!”

“No, Dean, I must go. I must.”

He stumbled, slammed against the wall then disappeared in a weak _poof_. Several soft white feathers fluttered to the ground where he was. Dean stepped over to them and picked them up.

Now what?

Bobby was dead.

He didn’t know what he had to get out of the storage unit.

There was a chance his dad _might_ be alive, and now the Blue-Eyed man was hurt and gone.

Trembling slightly, Dean picked up the direction tome from the ground and placed his hand upon it. In a weak voice, he whispered, “I need direction.” Once the heat and light ceased, he opened it up and read the new writing.

“ _5601 Pond Place, Clayton, Louisiana. Safety for three years. Ask for Benny Lafitte.”_


	7. Interlude in Louisiana

Dean had never been out of the state before, let alone 900 miles away. Since he didn’t have much else to do, he drove all day and all night, stopping only briefly to eat and once to sleep a little bit in the back seat. That was useless though, since seeing Bobby’s dead body was fresh on his mind. He couldn’t help but think if he had left sooner, Bobby would still be alive.

That wasn’t all, either; Dean had a billion questions that would likely go unanswered now. Most of them were about his dad. As he drove and drove, the possible answers flooded his mind.

But soon, the scenery went from Midwest to down south. As he approached his destiny, the trees flooded and turned the swamplands. People looked different, too.

He turned onto Pond Place and shortly found his destination. Benny Lafitte? No doubt was that his friend from the orphanage. It must have been.

Dean got out of the car and walked up to the rambler. He knocked gently and soon an older man answered.

“Can I help you?” he asked in a deep, Louisiana drawl.

“Yeah, uh, I’m here to see Benny…Benny Lafitte?”

“Oh, just a sec.”

He went back into the house and closed the door. Dean waited awkwardly until it opened again, and there stood a young guy about Dean’s age. He was fairly tall, with a big chest and light scruff of his chin. His short hair was living beneath a black cap.

“Well I’ll be,” the young man said, smiling. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were none other than—“

“Dean Winchester,” Dean interrupted.

“Dean, Dean, Dean,” said Benny. The clapped hands. “My old brother, huh? You’ve done alright, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess so, and I can say the same to you. Got adopted too, I guess?”

“Not long after you did. Come on in.”

Dean followed him into the house where he was properly introduced to Benny’s father, then met his mother and older sister, who was born from the parents. It was early evening and they were tucking into dinner, which Dean was cordially invited to. All four of the people seemed nice and warm hearted.

“So what brings you down here, Dean?” Benny’s mother asked.

“Yeah, actually,” Benny interrupted before Dean could answer, “How’d you manage to find where I am?”

“Research,” Dean lied, taking a quick bite of rice. “See, uh, well, my foster dad died.”

“Oh!” Benny’s mother gasped. “I’m mighty sorry to hear it! Poor dear.”

“Thanks, and I’ll be okay. I just need a place to get my head together.”

“You can stay as long as you’d like,” Benny’s father said with a smile. “Don’t you worry about a thing.”

And stay, Dean did. According to the tome, he would be safe at Benny’s for three years. That might be overstaying his welcome, but with all of the demons afoot, he couldn’t be too safe.

Unfortunately, the Blue-Eyed man disappeared again. For those three years, he was gone. Dean worried constantly that his wounds had killed him, if he even could die.

But Benny was a good distraction. They got along just like before. Benny taught Dean how to fish, whittle wood and cook, while Dean taught Benny about cars, good whiskey and how to style short hair.

Dean was finally twenty-one. He spent his birthday getting drunk with Benny, which was probably the last thing he’d expected three years earlier. But times were good and Dean was happy to say it. He would never get over Bobby’s death, but the absence of demons made Dean feel pretty good about things. However, three years was almost up and he knew he’d have to hit the road soon. The last thing he needed was for Benny and his family to cross paths with trouble.

One evening, Dean couldn’t sleep. He sat outside on the porch with Benny around ten o’clock, where Benny puffed a pipe and talked about his future. The stars were bright.

“Opening a restaurant,” Benny said, “That’s what I’d really love to do.”

“I think you will,” Dean told him, giving a weak smile. He was wrapped up in a robe, hands in the pockets and head turned up towards the sky. “You’re smart, work hard…why not?”

“Thanks, brother. Always count on you for a pick me up.”

Benny put out his pipe and left it on the railing of the porch. “I’ll see you in the morning. Sleep well, Dean.”

“Night, Benny.”

The door closed and he turned off the porch light, leaving Dean in the dark. He went down the steps and into the yard, carefully walking on the flagstone path to the driveway. There were so many stars up there. Dean wondered if anybody out there was looking back at him.

“Dean?”

An unfamiliar female voice appeared behind him. He quickly turned around, startled, and saw a thin, red haired women standing there. She had a green jacket and jeans on, and her big, round eyes appeared to be studying Dean intently.

“Y-yeah?” Dean asked, a little apprehensive. He was so close to three years that the memories of demons were coming back.

“My name is Anna. I am here on behalf of Castiel.”

“ _Who?_ ”

The woman named Anna stepped closer to Dean, who was on his guard.

“Castiel.”

“I dunno anybody named Castiel.”

“Of course you do,” Anna insisted. Her face was impossible to read. “He is the angel who is tethered to you.”

“The _what?_ ”

As soon as the words registered with Dean properly, he realized who Anna was talking about. He had heard the term “tethered” before—the demon that the Blue-Eyed man smote after his disastrous prom.

“Castiel is the angel who watches over you,” Anna continued before Dean could get a word in. “I’m surprised he hadn’t introduced himself.”

“Y-you mean the blue-eyed guy? Messy black hair? Trench coat?”

Anna nodded emotionlessly. “Indeed,” she said. “That is Castiel.”

“He’s an,” Dean paused his to swallow stiffly, “Angel?”

Now, the life he had left behind in South Dakota was coming back. Those years of isolation, talking to the Blue-Eyed man, or Castiel, and living in constant fear of demons had returned. The time he spent with Benny and his family had been so relaxed, carefree and fun that he had pushed the bad memories away.

“Yes,” Anna said. “Observe.”

The woman began to glow blue all over. She levitated into the air just a few inches, and suddenly two great wings sprouted from her back. They spanned maybe five feet on each side, so not proper wings that could technically fly by nature standards, but they were bright white and glowing brilliantly. A ring of gold light grew around her head, too, then she floated down to the earth once more and the display disappeared. She looked like a normal person again. Dean was speechless.

“Castiel has wings and a halo as well. Have you not noticed any of this?” Dean shook his head. “He has not told you any of this?” Again.

“He s-said he’s under a soul pact,” Dean explained quickly, still incapable of forming words correctly. “So he c-can’t really talk about that shit.”

“Shit?” Anna asked, tilting her head. The word seemed alien to her.

“Things, stuff, whatever.”

“Ah, I understand.”

Dean cleared his throat.

“So uh,” he stammered, “Where is Castiel?”

“Fighting on the front lines. Unfortunately he is unable to protect you in the manner that he would prefer, so I am here to assist.”

“Okay then…is something wrong?”

Of course something was wrong. Castiel wasn’t there.

“We must leave,” Anna said.

“Great. Again.”

“Surely you were aware of your imminent departure.”

“Yeah, I was, I just…I just wish it could wait longer.”

“No, it cannot. We must leave.”

Dean let out a sigh and brought himself back into the house. He went upstairs grudgingly and began to pack, _again_ , muttering to himself, “what’s with angels and needing to leave so urgently?”

Anna had followed him into the house.

“Because we are following strict orders and we wish to keep you safe,” she said. Dean jumped.

“What if Benny sees you?”

“Does it matter? We must go. Please, pack quicker, Dean.”

“Right, right.”

Dean was ready in no time and they were preparing to leave. He didn’t want to wake Benny’s parents, but he certainly knocked on his friend’s door to tell him.

“Hey, Benny?” Dean whispered.

“Come in.”

He opened the door and stepped inside. Anna followed.

“Oh!” Benny gasped when he saw the woman’s shadow. “Who’s this, huh?”

“A friend,” Dean said stiffly. “Listen, Benny, we’re gonna leave. I’m sorry about this, but—“

“No need to apologize, brother,” Benny said warmly. He turned on a lamp beside the bed and flooded the room with light. Anna was standing like a soldier beside Dean, who was holding a knapsack and smiling sadly at Benny.

“I’ll see you again,” Dean said.

“I don’t doubt that. You take care now.”

“Bye.”

“Goodbye, Dean.”

And just like that, Dean was on the road again.


	8. The Unit's Secret

“Is Benny gonna be okay?”

“I see no reason why he wouldn’t.”

Anna was sitting in the passenger’s seat of the Impala. She looked straight ahead with the same, emotionless face.

Before departing, Dean had consulted the direction tome. Again, it gave an address, this time to a place at 42 Rover Hill in upstate New York. Dean had a fair idea of what that meant, but Anna didn’t know where it was taking them. She seemed relatively clueless when it came to what was happening, aside from the fact that she knew Castiel well.

“So are you best buds or something?” Dean asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Castiel and you. Friends?”

“We have worked together for a long time.”

A thin smile appeared on Dean’s lips.

“What’s he like?” he asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I’ve been talking to him for a while, but I haven’t really gotten to _know_ him. What’s his personality like? Is he nice? Is he _ever_ funny?”

“We are not supposed to be funny,” Anna said rather sternly. She looked to Dean even though he was watching the road. “Castiel is a good angel. One of the more compassionate. Why else would he seal a soul pact?”

“Yeah about that, can you explain the whole thing better?”

“Certainly. A soul pact is a deal that a human makes with an angel, provided the human is learned enough in the magical arts. They must first conjure the angel, and upon presenting their deal, the angel either approves or rejects. If it is approved, the angel will take a piece of their soul and a piece of the human’s and seal them in containers. One container, when broken, begins the pact. The other will end it.”

“You got any idea who made a deal with Castiel and why?”

“I do not, however I can assume it is related to your business with the demons.”

They passed a tractor trailer.

“Business? What d’you mean business? _They’re_ the ones who came and fought _me_. _They_ killed Bobby, I didn’t ask for that!”

“They are hunting you for a particular reason,” Anna explained. “The reason, I do not know, but they are bent on finding and killing you. Quickly.”

“This is some bullshit. Why can’t I just have a normal life…”

“I’m sorry, Dean.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

They drove on and on, stopping sometimes for Dean to sleep. Anna didn’t need much. In fact, she didn’t need anything, but it was definitely different for an angel to stick around the whole time.

It felt like they had been driving for eons when they finally reached the Castle Storage yard. It was night and a big neon sign with the place’s logo beamed brightly onto the parking lot. Dean drove in and parked until he found number 42.

“Do you know where we are?” Anna asked.

“Not really, but I sorta know what I’m doing.”

He got out of the car and walked up to the door, like a garage. That little key Bobby had given him in his final moments was now attached to the ring with the Impala’s.

“Time to shine, little buddy,” Dean whispered to the key as he unlocked the door. “Show me what you got.”

The door rolled up loudly and Dean walked inside. Anna followed. Just as Bobby has described, the place was filth, absolute filth. Hundreds of boxes filled the small space, a couple pieces of nasty furniture and some miscellaneous broken things that Dean didn’t want to bother identifying.

“What is this?” Anna asked.

“Storage unit from my dad,” said Dean. “Only thing I know about him. Apparently there’s something I _need_ to have under all of this garbage. You got any angel magic that can help out with that?”

“Hmm…”

Anna took a few careful steps around the room, over boxes and shuffling through scattered papers. She looked around. Her eyes flashed bright blue a few times and she held her palm open. Dean watched curiously. Anna was starting to grow on him. She was actually kind of cool.

“There _is_ something,” Anna said finally. For the first time, she actually smiled. “Yes!” she shouted.

“What is it? What is it?”

Suddenly, Anna worked herself up into a frenzy and bent over, tossing papers all over the place. Dust clouds formed around her and Dean had to cover his mouth.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Dean asked between coughs.

“Yes!”

“What is it?”

Anna triumphantly brandished a dirty old clay tablet. She got to her feet and excitedly ran back to Dean. “This is it,” she said.

“What? Some kid’s art project?”

“No,” Anna protested too seriously. She brushed more dust off of the tablet, displaying a series of what looked like cuneiform etchings. “How does a person such as…who did this place belong to…”

“My dad.”

“Right. Your dad…how does a person such as your _dad_ happen upon this?”

“I didn’t know him, so I dunno. But what is it?”

“This is the demon tablet. It has been missing for thousands of years.”

Dean’s eyes widened. “Th-thousands?”

“Yes, that is correct. Oh, Dean!” Anna blushed slightly. “I wish to show my appreciation and excitement, but I don’t know how!”

“Uh, well, you can hug me.”

“Hug?”

Anna looked at Dean oddly, but he just smiled.

“Yeah, like this.”

He put his arms around Anna and hugged her tight. The angel instantly rested her head against Dean’s shoulder. “Ah…” she sighed.

“This is what people do when they’re happy to see each other, or they really like each other, or…a bunch of reasons. It’s a way of showing they care.”

“I understand…”

Dean let go of Anna and smiled at her. She returned the gesture, then her eyes fell upon the tablet once more.

“So what’s it do?” Dean asked.

Assuming Bobby was correct in that he only needed one thing from the storage unit, he closed up and got back into the car. Anna was holding the tablet like a newborn baby.

“This, when translated properly, gives directions on how to close to gates of Hell and seal demons within for all eternity.”

“Woah,” Dean inhaled, revving up the car. It started to rain. “That’s some heavy hitting stuff.”

“It’s very important. Do you realize what we can do with this?”

“Yeah, we can close the gates of Hell and seal demons within for all eternity.”

“It will save many lives…”

“And it’ll get them off my ass, right?”

“Correct.”

“Whereto now?”

“Inquire with the tome.”

Dean took the direction tome off of the floor and asked it as usual. He was getting used to this process by now. When he flipped the book open, the next blank space read, “ _Stay within the state. It is not safe. Ask later._ ”

“Huh…”

Anna looked at the writing and thinned her lips. “Interesting,” she remarked.

“What d’you think is going on?”

“I’m not sure, but we should follow its orders.”

“Okay. Well, how ‘bout this—since we’ve made such an important discovery, why don’t we celebrate with a couple a drinks?”

“I don’t need to drink.”

“Nobody _needs_ to,” Dean said, grinning. He began to drive away. “Let’s just find a cozy little bar somewhere and get trashed.”

“I don’t understand. Why would we _want_ trash?”

“Don’t worry.”

They drove around for about forty minutes until Dean spotted a bar that suited his liking. It was right next to a motel, too, so they were set for the night. First, he booked a room while Anna waited out front. Then, smiling ear to ear, he ran his hand over the top of his head and pointed towards the bar.

“I’m guessing you don’t know a lot about humans.”

“No,” Anna said softly, following Dean to the bar. He opened the door and let her go in first.

For a Wednesday evening, the bar was pretty full. People were sitting, standing, chatting loudly as Baby Blue played in every corner. Anna looked around suspiciously.

“Everything okay?” Dean whispered, leaning close to her.

“Yes, I believe so.”

“Cool. Let’s take a seat at the bar.”

Dean zoomed up to the front and sat at and empty stool, pointing at the other one next to him. Anna plopped down and looked at the man on her other side. He was too busy chatting up a young woman who looked too attractive and young for him. Anna was very much out of her element and the expression on her face showed as much, but Dean on the other hand, who was only twenty one, acted like a professional bar hopper.

“Jack, make it a double,” he said to the bartender. “What d’you want, Anna?”

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “I’ve never consumed anything before.”

The bartender shot a strange look at Anna, who wasn’t stirred. Dean forced a loud laugh. “Just get her a beer. Something domestic.”

“No prob,” said the bartender.

“Try not to say things that are totally weird, okay?” he asked Anna.

“I will try.”

The bartender returned and Dean raised his drink to Anna. “Cheers,” he said.

“Cheers? Cheer what?”

“No, no. Take your glass and touch it to mine. It’s something that we do.”

“Ah, I see.”

She carefully held the pilsner glass with both hands and lightly tapped it against Dean’s. He chuckled, said “there ya go” then took a sip. He hissed from the strength of the alcohol. Anna took a sip and coughed as she swallowed.

“Oh-oh!” she sputtered.

“Okay?”

“Yes…it’s…it’s different, isn’t it?”

“Just beer.”

Anna had another sip. It went down smoother this time. Dean finished his whiskey and ordered another, and by the time he was done with that one, Anna had drunk the beer.

“Oohh…”

She was clearly intoxicated already. Her eyes had dilated and she kept tilting her head side to side, flopping like a ragdoll. Dean laughed. He laughed loud and smacked his hand on the table.

“You’re FUNNY!” he choked.

“Am I? Am I funny? What is funny? Gabriel is the funny angel…”

“Shhh…don’t talk about angel stuff…”

“Angel stuff? But I must always talk about angel stuff…ahh…”

Anna slipped off her seat and fell to the floor. A couple people at the bar jumped up and offered to help her, Dean included. She blushed and laughed.

“What’s happening, Dean?”

“Probably time to go,” Dean said, still chuckling.

He paid their tab then helped Anna leave the bar. She was fumbling and stumbling all over the place, laughing and pushing at Dean. Her halo began to twinkle and glow, so Dean had to get her back to the hotel.

“Aahh, don’t blow your cover!” he said. Getting an angel drunk was looking like a bad idea now.

He quickly unlocked the door and pulled Anna inside. Under his guiding direction, she lay down on the bed and pulled a pillow close to her chest.

“Oh, Dean, this is a very strange feeling…”

“Sorry. I guess I didn’t realize you’d get _that_ drunk on just one beer.”

He sat on the side of the bed and pet her arm. Anna closed her eyes.

“I hope Castiel returns soon,” she mumbled.

“Am I that bad?” Dean asked, somewhat jokingly.

“No, certainly not. But I worry about him.”

Dean sighed. “Yeah, me, too.”

“He’s sensitive.”

“How so?”

“He always has been. The humans are of particular interest to him…he enjoys studying you all…most angels don’t even care.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course. Castiel is…Castiel is different.”

Dean smiled happily, blushing a little. “Yeah, yeah he is, isn’t he?”

“Indeed…”

It looked like Anna was going to fall asleep, so Dean pulled the blanket up and draped it over her, then stripped down to his underwear and got in the other bed. This wasn’t the way he wanted his life to go, far from it, but maybe it would work out.


	9. Many Letters

“Dean…Dean… _Dean_ …”

In his sleep, Dean was hearing Castiel’s voice. He rolled over with a smile on his face. It occurred to him that Castiel was like his guardian angel, keeping an eye on him throughout his entire life. Who made the soul pact? It was probably his father.

“Dean…Dean!”

Then he shot awake. The voice wasn’t just in his head. He opened his eyes and saw Castiel standing beside the bed, hair a mess, clothes tattered and bloodied.

“Castiel?”

The angel’s eyes narrowed.

“You’ve been socializing with Anna…”

Dean yawned real loud and started to get up. The bed where Anna had been was now empty.

“Where is she?” Dean asked.

“I have returned. She is no longer needed.”

“Oh. Okay. We leaving?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, alright. Gimme a few.”

Dean stumbled past Castiel and went to the bathroom, where he quickly washed up for the day and got dressed. Castiel was still standing in the middle of the room when he was done.

“Where are we going?” Dean asked.

“Anna has shown me the demon tablet,” Castiel explained. He stared at Dean with soft eyes. “We must find someone to translate it.”

“So am I just gonna start doing what it says? Is that my purpose?”

Castiel looked down.

“I cannot divulge the details of the soul pact…”

“Right, right. Sorry. I’m sorry, should’ve known. Cheer up.”

Dean put his hand on Castiel’s arm and patted him. It was nice to touch him. Small sparks of excitement whipped through Dean’s nerves.

“Your wound doing better?” he asked.

“Yes, it has healed.”

“Good.”

“It’s time to leave.”

“Right, right, right.”

Dean gathered up his things and they went off to the car. He got inside and so did Castiel. Even though he missed Anna, this made Dean smile.

“So you’re gonna ride with me now? No flying away? No disappearing?”

“Unless I’m needed,” said Castiel. “But yes, I plan to stay here.”

“Awesome.”

He looked over at the angel and smiled. Castiel stared back at him. “It’s nice to spend time with you,” he said. Dean nodded in agreement.

“Do you know where we’re going?”

“There is one possibility I have deduced where we may find a translator for the tablet,” Castiel said. “We will go to Illinois, to a place called Taylorville. Once we arrive I should be able to the find the person we seek.”

Dean chuckled. “How do you know all this stuff?”

“It is my duty.”

He couldn’t exactly argue with that logic. Illinois it was.

They had a long drive ahead of them, one that Dean figured would take about two days. He didn’t mind though, since he finally had time to sit and talk with Castiel and not worry about him buzzing away. Most of his immediate questions were protected by the soul pact and Castiel refused to speak on them, but then he got a rhythm for what he _could_ discuss.

“So where’s the body come from?” Dean asked. “Did you make it or something?”

“My visage?” Castiel asked back, looking at Dean and gesturing to himself.

“Yeah. What’s that all about?”

“This is my body, just as your body is yours.”

“So angels look like people?”

Castiel narrowed his eyes (though Dean was staring forward at the road).

“People look like angels,” he corrected. “Why else have you evolved in such a way?”

“I dunno. Never really thought about it.”

“We were all once people,” said Castiel. He looked out of the window now. “We all began as minerals. Minerals which evolved into plants, plants which evolved into animals, animals which evolved into humans and ultimately humans will evolve into angels.”

Dean’s upper lip twitched.

“I don’t recall being human very much,” Castiel added. “It was eons ago, on a different planet in a different galaxy.”

“Weird,” was all Dean could say. He wanted to remark that the people from that planet must have been seriously attractive, given Castiel’s looks, but he stayed quiet.

“I have been an angel for a long time. Longer than most remember.”

“Do you ever wonder about being human again?”

“No, why should I? I have evolved out of that place.”

“But humans eat, sleep, they enjoy humor, they uh…they have sex.”

Dean cleared his throat loudly as the last couple of words zipped out of his mouth. Castiel kept staring out of the window.

“I can still do all of those things, I simply choose not to.”

“Seriously? You don’t want to eat food?”

“I see no reason.”

“Ugh. Food is _so_ good. I’d never give that up.”

Castiel leered at Dean now. “Then perhaps you will never evolve to become an angel.”

“ _Perhaps_ I don’t want to.”

The angel put his focus on the window once more. They were silent for a while. It was difficult for Dean to understand how anybody wouldn’t want to eat food. Sex, however, was different because he was still a virgin. He wondered if Castiel had fornicated while he was still human. Did it matter? He said he didn’t remember, so probably not. Still, Dean wondered…

Eventually they made it to Taylorville. Castiel directed Dean to a farm outside of the city, where he was told to park and they went on foot. Dean followed behind the angel, who walked with his usual “man on a mission” pace.

“You know what you’re looking for?” Dean asked.

“Yes.”

He turned down a lane which cut through rows of corn. Dean kept getting smacked in the face by big blades of cornstalk, which made him grunt louder and louder each time. Then, Castiel suddenly stopped and looked down. They had reached the end of the lane.

“What’s here?” Dean asked.

“You ask too many questions,” said Castiel. He motioned his hand towards the ground and suddenly a sheet of dirt and dead plants was blown away, leaving a large, metal door in the ground.

“Woah.”

Castiel squatted down and laid his palm flat on the middle of the door. He muttered something under his breath and there was a metallic clonk. Then he pushed on the door with both hands and it slid off to the side. A set of stairs went down a little ways and lead to a second door, this one stood upright and was a regular size.

“Follow,” said Castiel.

Dean joined him down there. There was a unicursal hexagram carved into the center of the door, which Castiel opened easily.

“Follow,” he said once more.

They stepped through the door and into a big, dark room. Dean couldn’t see a thing, but it appeared that Castiel could. He walked quickly, footsteps echoing throughout, until he stopped, made a clicking sound and lit a candle. He held it out to Dean.

“Where are we?” Dean asked.

As he looked around, he saw that the room wasn’t quite as big as he thought. It was mostly tables, all covered in generous amounts of dust, also a couple of bookshelves, desks cluttered with writing supplies, a kitchen sink and a few beds.

“This is one of many safe houses for the Men of Letters,” said Castiel. He was examining books.

“The _who?_ ”

“Dean, please. You ask too many questions. I will answer all the I can, in time.”

“Right, sorry.”

“The Men of Letters are a group of people who study the occult. They’re exclusive. They are the only humans in history who have intentionally contacted angels.”

“Ohh…”

Dean began to meander around the room while Castiel kept going through books. Some of the tables had interesting items on them, such as jewelry, fancy pens, inkwells and papers. Dean set the candle down on one and looked over a letter sitting there. 

 

_Dear Karen,_

_I’m going to be out here longer than expected. The guys have made good progress—more than we all thought at first. Pretty soon we’ll have it translated and be ready for the 23 rd. I’ll write back when I head home._

_Love,_

_Bobby_

 

Dean reread the letter a few times. Bobby? No way. No way it was the Bobby he knew. There were a million Bobbys out there.

Regardless of the writer, it looked like these guys had been doing some pretty important work. He wondered what they were translating. Could it have been the demon tablet? If so, maybe it really _was_ Bobby?

He pawed through more of the papers. Soon it became apparent that they were, indeed, dealing with the demon tablet.

“Hey, Castiel?” Dean called out.

“Yes?”

“Come here.”

“Yes.”

The angel stepped over to Dean’s side and looked down at the papers. Several of them were covered in cuneiform, just like the tablet, with meanings scribbled out beneath them.

“Is this what you’re looking for?” Dean asked, smirking in the candlelight.

“Aah,” Castiel inhaled. He looked satisfied as he spread the papers around. Then, he reached into his trench coat and brought out the actual tablet. It was placed on the table beside the papers. “This is a brilliant find.”

“Yeah but look, they didn’t finish it.”

Dean pointed to the last page, where all but the last line on the tablet had been written out. Castiel frowned.

“Can’t you just translate it?” Dean asked. “I mean, if you’re so old and wise and all that.”

“I cannot translate a tablet. This language is one that I never learned.”

“Boo…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Castiel said with new confidence. “We have most of it, we can begin the process. However, we must work on translating the last line eventually.”

“Great. So what’s my job…”

Dean sat down on one of the chairs and lined the papers up again. He brought the candle a little closer and began to read what they had translated.

“ _Demon Tablet_ ,” he said aloud. “ _As by the order of the First Sphere. Hereby decree the rite of inferno. None opened, none declared. Three movements partaken by the 23 rd man. Order thus said;_

_“As the 200 th demon falls, so does the 23rd man climb the first movement._

_“As the merciful breast is cloven in two, so does the 23 rd man climb the second movement._

_“As the sacred heart is freed, so does the 23 rd man climb the third movement, thus completing the tasks._

_“Then does he face his final challenge.”_

Here, the translation ended. There were a few notes that said, “ _24 th man?_” and “ _Crater? Lake?_ ” But that was all. Dean looked at Castiel and hoped for some clarification.

“These are the steps to seal the gates of Hell,” said Castiel.

“Yeah but, but who’s the 23rd man?”

Castiel didn’t answer. He looked sad and perhaps ashamed.

“Is it…” Dean cleared his throat. “Is it me?”

Again, no answer, but the angel did make a small sound. His eyes twinkled.

“Part of your pact?”

He nodded.

“So I guess it is me. Figured. Makes sense. So…200 demons…you don’t s’ppose they want me to kill 200 demons, do you?”

“Certainly.”

Dean grumped. “Seriously? 200? I don’t even know how to kill _one_!”

Castiel turned away from the table and went back to examining the room. “These Men of Letters were well prepared,” he said. “I’m sure they have tools to help you.”

“You think?”

“Likely.”

Dean got up and started searching as well. He went through all of the desk drawers, all of the papers on every table, and carefully picked around the bookshelves. It didn’t take long for them to find a beat up, metal toolbox tucked away in the corner. Dean opened it up and found a few more papers sitting atop something bulky.

“Hey, look at this.”

Castiel came up behind him and peered over his shoulder. Dean picked up the first letter and looked it over.

 

_To the 23 rd man,_

_Time is of the essence. You must follow the instructions. Use the blade._

_Best wishes,_

_Henry_

 

“Huh,” Dean hummed to himself. If he was indeed the 23rd man, (whatever that even meant), then it would seem these letters were written to him. When? How did they know? He looked at the next one.

 

_23 rd man,_

_I’m writing this before you are even born. We don’t know who you are yet, but we know your fate. It’s impossible to tell if, by the time you find this, you’ve been properly informed on what’s going on, but here’s what I can tell you—the prophecy dictates that you must follow the movements on the demon tablet. You have to. There’s no way around it. I’m sorry I can’t be there to help you._

_Always,_

_John_

 

Dean was scratching his head even more. He hoped the letters might explain things, but now he just had more questions. So many questions. He thought he should keep most of them to himself or else Castiel might get mad. Just two letters left.

 

_For the 23 rd man,_

_I know that everyone’s fate is entwined. The Men of Letters have been predicting this legacy since the organization was founded, so it’s no surprise. I’ll see you some day, 23 rd man, but my sincere apologies for not telling you about this. Mary says she’ll handle it and not to tell you unless I have to. Here’s hoping you turn out alright. Do what you have to do._

_‘Til then,_

_Bobby_

 

Then it was absolutely Bobby Singer who wrote the one to Karen. That must have been his wife. Dean never heard anything about Bobby’s family, aside from the foster children and that he _had_ a wife at some point. He had been very secretive about that.

It was daunting to be sitting in a strange room, next to an angel, learning about his fate and reading a letter written by his foster father before Dean himself was even born. How did this manage to happen? He wondered if Bobby’s life could have been spared if he _had_ filled Dean in on everything. Maybe Bobby even knew what the prophecy said.

Either way, it wasn’t the time to worry about such trivial matters. There was one letter left, written in a pretty, ornate script that made Dean smile.

 

_Dear 23 rd man,_

_I know what the movements mean. I know what will happen. This is painful to write, but they will be hard for you. Terribly hard. I wish there was something I could do, but it seems there is nothing. I’m still exploring options to see if I can get you out of this but if you’re reading this now, then I have failed. I’m sorry. Please do **everything** you must to complete the movements, no matter what the cost._

_Love always,_

_Mary_

 

“This sucks,” said Dean.

“How so?”

“People I don’t even know—people who didn’t even know me! They’re telling me how hard these movements are gonna be but I have to do it anyway. Ugh. I don’t wanna die from them.”

“Dean…”

Castiel sat down next to Dean on the floor. He looked at him with great sympathy. Dean blushed.

“There is no reason to worry,” the angel reassured him. “I’m here for you.”

“Thanks, man,” Dean said with a sigh. “I guess you’re the only friend I’ve got in all of this.”

Of course there was Benny, but Benny didn’t know about angels, demons and prophecies. At this point, going back to Benny would probably put his life in danger.

“I’ve never had a real friend,” said Castiel.

“What about Anna? All those other angels? Gabriel? Apparently he’s funny.”

“They aren’t friends. They’re angels whom I work closely with. But we don’t spend time together like human friends do. It’s different.”

Dean smiled sadly. “Then it’s good we have each other.”

“I agree.”

Castiel made a small smile. He blinked slowly.

“Anyway,” Dean said loudly, trying to distract himself from gazing into the angel’s eyes for hours, “Let’s see what else is in here.”

He held onto the letters, thinking that he might want to reread them for moral support, or perhaps he’d figure out who the rest of the people were.

“So what’s under here,” Dean muttered to himself.

Whatever was beneath the letters had been put into a black velvet bag.He lifted it out and instantly knew it was a knife. However, under the bag there were more things; a thin gold ring, a lock of blonde hair and a sleek, black pen. Dean shrugged and figured he should probably keep them. Why else would they be in there?

Then he went back to the bag. Carefully, Dean untied the ends and pulled the knife out by its hilt. The blade was long, brilliantly sharp with some strange language carved into it. The handle was fashioned from a large antler.

“Damn,” Dean remarked, turning the blade to see it better in the candlelight. “Not bad, huh?”

“It’s a demon killing knife,” Castiel said, looking at it and making an impressed face. “Made by the Kurds. Difficult to come by.”

“Demon killing?” Dean asked, eyes widening. “You mean, I can kill those bastards with this?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Well there you go!” Dean chuckled. He made sure the box was empty before closing it and getting up. The blade grew warm in his hand. “Then I guess we’re ready to go smite some black-eyed assholes!”


	10. Loose Ends

“I need direction.”

Dean spoke to the tome as he placed his palm over the dark stone. It warmed up intensely, glowing bright red and nearly burning. Dean winced but it was over soon. He then opened the page at the bookmark (it was a few pages in now, so he stuck a gas receipt in it) and saw the newest writing; “ _Pilgrimage back home_.”

“Back home home?” Dean asked, basically to himself. He had slept in the backseat of the Impala that night while Castiel sat up front. Like Anna, he didn’t need to sleep or eat.

“Do you have a different home?”

“Well, there’s the orphanage. But I wouldn’t call that home. I guess Sioux Falls again…you think it’s safe for me to head back there?”

“No place is ‘safe’ for you, but with the demon killing knife and my help, if we don’t stay very long I’m sure the people living there will be fine. And we need to find demons anyway.”

“Right. Okay. Then let’s go.”

Dean wasn’t exactly thrilled to return to the place he was raised by Bobby. He left right after his foster father had been murdered without saying goodbye to anyone. Nobody knew, as far as he could guess, what happened to Dean or Bobby, for that matter.

They had a ten hour drive to get back, which by now was easy for Dean. They left early in the morning and managed to arrive by late afternoon.

It was weird coming back. As he drove through the town, nothing looked any different. He drove by Best! Subs and Harvelle’s Body Supply. Everything was unchanged. The memories of seeing demons as a teenager, unaware of what they were, haunted him with every inch he drove.

“Guess I’ll say hi to Ash. See how Jo is doing. I never apologized to her, anyway.”

“Apologized for what?” Castiel asked.

Dean pulled up in front of the body supply store and parked the car. He looked at Castiel, who was rather confused.

“For being a dick on prom night,” said Dean.

“A dick?” Castiel asked, cocking his head.

“You remember when that demon attacked me, then you showed up and opened a can of whoop-ass on her?”

“I don’t have cans of ‘whoop-ass.’”

“No, you don’t understand,” Dean said, laughing slightly. He shut off the ignition. “Jo was interested in me but I didn’t realize it. She got mad when I didn’t wanna kiss her.”

“Kiss?”

“When people put their mouths together. You’ve _gotta_ have an idea of what that is.”

“Ah…yes…but why would the denial upset her?”

“She wanted to kiss me.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I didn’t wanna kiss _her_.”

“Why not?”

“’Cause…’cause you kiss people you like. You like a whole lot. And I just never liked her that way.”

Castiel stared at Dean oddly for a moment. He blinked. Dean wet his lips and said, “Let’s just go in.”

They left the car and headed inside the shop, where Dean was immediately greeted by Ash behind the counter. He didn’t look a day different, despite almost four years having passed since they last spoke.

“Dean Winchester?!” Ash asked, looking elated. “Where have you _been,_ man?”

Dean coughed.

“After Bobby died, I just had to leave. Nowhere to go. Been on the road.”

“Aww, aww, man. I am _so_ sorry, dude. Sorry about Bobby and sorry about you leavin’. Man, we’ve all missed you.”

“Yeah?”

“Bobby, too. Great man. Shame he took his own life like that. You got any idea why?”

“Took his own life?” Dean asked in a whisper. His forehead scrunched up.

“You uh, you were around, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, sorta…”

“Didn’t you know?”

“Oh…right…yeah…I…never mind.”

“Sorry, man. Must be hard.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me.”

On a lighter note, Ash turned to Castiel and asked, “So who’s your friend?”

“This is uh,” Dean looked at Castiel, “This is _Cas_.”

Castiel leered at Dean oddly and Dean shrugged.

“Buddy from the road?” Ash asked.

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Nice to meet ya, Cas,” said Ash, extending his hand. Castiel looked down at it with the same strange face. Ash held it for a moment before getting awkward and pulling it away. He laughed nervously. “You’re like Jack _Koo-row-ack_ or something.”

“Who?” Castiel asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Dean interrupted. He turned to Ash once more, leaning against the counter. “Where’s your sister at, by the way? I’d like to see her.”

“Living with her boyfriend.”

“Oh, cool. You know where that is?”

“Sure thing. Lemme write it down for you.”

Ash took a pad of paper and jotted down a couple of words, all the while Castiel was still rather confused. He stood there with his arms hanging heavy like salamis.

“Thanks, man,” said Dean, taking the address.

“You gonna be here for a while?”

“Dunno.”

“Oh okay. Well, take care, buddy.”

“I’ll see you.”

Castiel quickly turned away and followed Dean out.

“You gotta be a _little_ more social,” Dean said quietly.

“I don’t understand.”

“When people hold their hand out to you, you’re supposed to shake it. And when they introduce themselves, you introduce yourself, too. You were always good at saying ‘hello’ to me. I know you can do it.”

Castiel said nothing as they got back into the car. Dean took out his map and found the street where Jo was apparently living and went that way.

It was a rambler at the end of a road he had never been on. There were many cars parked along it so Dean assumed it was mostly rentals. He found a space and got out of the car.

“You stay here,” he said to Castiel, who nodded solemnly, then headed towards the house. Jo answered the door. She didn’t look a day different, either. Maybe things in that town never changed.

“ _Dean?_ ” she asked, eyes wide. Her jaw nearly fell off. “Dean? Is that really you?”

“Hey, Jo. How are you?”

“I-I’m good. I really—wow, Dean—I really thought I’d never see you again. Do you want to come in?”

“Actually I can’t, I’m in the middle of something. Just figured I’d stop by and say hi. I also want to apologize for the way I treated you on prom night.”

Jo chuckled.

“You don’t have to apologize. Dean, that was over three years ago. I’ve moved on, I don’t care. But it’s sweet of you to come all this way just to say that.”

“Cool…”

Jo looked around Dean’s side and eyed the car.

“You’re still driving that?”

“’Course I am. I love that car.”

“Who is that in there?”

“My uh,” Dean cleared his throat and got a little nervous, “My buddy, Cas.”

“Oh…”

Jo’s face turned red.

“It’s a long story, believe me,” Dean said quickly. “You don’t need to hear all of the details.”

“Oh, no, that’s fine, I understand,” she said, still blushing hard. “I guess that makes sense.”

“What does?”

“Why prom night went like that. I didn’t realize you were _like that_.”

“Like what?”

Jo’s eyes twinkled. She looked at him momentarily and whispered, “gay.”

“OH,” Dean inhaled. “But I’m…I…well…”

He scratched the back of his head and looked away. “I guess I’ll see you around, Jo. Take care of yourself.”

He walked back to the car quickly and left Jo standing there, very confused, but still happy to see Dean. After he sat down in the car, he turned the engine on and drove off.

“Do you know where we are headed now?” Castiel asked.

Dean was blushing so furiously. He couldn’t even answer Castiel, even though he knew what to say. The thought of his sexuality had never properly occurred to him, but once Jo said it, everything began to make sense. He wasn’t really attracted to women, he never had been. Castiel, though…Castiel made him smile. He made him happy. He wanted to be around that angel and to hug him, hold him, kiss him…

“Dean?”

“Oh,” the young man finally sputtered, “Thought we’d see what happened to Bobby’s place.”

“That makes sense.”

He brought them to the old lot which once belonged to Bobby’s auto shop. The fence still stood, but it was marked off with caution tape and through it, Dean could see that the ground had been leveled. It was disappointing but not a surprise. He parked the car and got out, motioning for Castiel to follow.

“Can you open this?” he asked, pointing to the padlock that kept the gate together.

“Of course,” said Castiel. He held out two fingers, curled them down and the lock suddenly popped.

“That is so cool,” Dean said with a chuckle.

“I suppose.”

He pushed through the gate and walked onto the remains of Bobby’s land. A few of the old cars remained, but mostly it was rubble and building debris. Dean closed his eyes. He remembered the first time Bobby had brought him home. Seeing the lot full of cars was like a beacon of hope, tearing him away from his ill fate at the orphanage. But now, Bobby was gone. All of this was over. What remained were fragments of a history much larger than Dean himself, although it would seem that he was the most important piece in the puzzle.

“Is there something here that you need?” Castiel asked. He had begun to explore the rubble as well, despite not knowing why.

“Nah,” said Dean.

He wandered over to the foundation of the house. Maybe there would be something left behind that he could use? Unfortunately, his quest was thwarted by piles and piles of wood, insulation and thousands of bricks. Nothing even resembled what had once stood there.

While Castiel was still meandering around between cars and garbage, Dean took a few steps into the middle of the cement foundation. That was where Bobby’s study had once been. He looked around and saw what may have been a chunk of his desk. Dean sighed. He wanted Bobby back. All this talk of prophecies and demons was exhausting. Why couldn’t he have remained a simple mechanic?

Then Dean looked down and noticed something strange on the floor. There was a large, rectangular outline carved into the foundation. He kicked some of the debris aside and saw that in the center there was a unicursal hexagram carved into it.

“Hey, Cas?” Dean called out. Cas sounded nicer. It was easier, too.

“Yes?”

“Can you come here and look at something?”

“Yes.”

The angel walked up alongside Dean and followed the young man’s hand, pointed at the floor, then said, “The sigil of the Men of Letters.”

“Right? I thought so. Maybe this is a door.”

“It is likely. Stand back.”

Castiel knelt to the floor and pressed his palm on it, just as he had with the place in the cornfield. He muttered quietly and the carved rectangle sunk down about an inch. Dean stepped back more.

“It is safe,” said Cas. He put both hands on the door and slid it off to the side, again like the other door. It revealed a hole that had a ladder going down into it.

“Guess we gotta check it out,” said Dean. Castiel nodded and they both descended.

Down the hole proved to be quite unlike the first Men of Letter’s hideout Dean had seen. This one was barely larger than a walk-in closet, but at least it had a light bulb fixed into the ceiling which could be turned on by a string hanging down. The light beamed and illuminated nothing but a single wooden shelf. A few boxes sat on it. Dean looked through them all and found that they were empty save for one. It was a thin, narrow box that had originally been designed to hold incense. Dean clacked it open and found a rolled up piece of parchment.

_Official Registrar to the Men of Letters_

_Thus follows the remaining members of our society_

Dean read through a list of about twenty people. Each one was written in a different hand and mostly different ink, which Dean assumed had been done by the named person. Most of them had “deceased” written after their name in messy black letters.

The last five were different though, not just because four of them were not marked as dead but also there was a small unicursal hexagram written on the other side of their names. They were as follows;

_Henry Winchester (deceased)_

_John Winchester (missing in action)_

_Mary Winchester (missing in action)_

_Bobby Singer_

_Linda Tran_

Dean held the paper in his hands and began to tremble. A chill went down his spine. Henry, John, Mary and Bobby were the people who penned letters to the 23rd man. He didn’t realize their last names. Henry, John and Mary were his relatives. One of the men was surely his father, and then Mary was probably…

With a deep breath, Dean took the parchment and put it inside his jacket. He quickly looked around the space to ensure nothing had been missed, then he and Cas left.

“This is an important document for the Men of Letters,” said Cas.

“No shit.”

They sealed up the door and returned to the car. No doubt, Dean thought, Bobby intended for Dean to find it. Maybe that’s why the place hadn’t been cleared? Maybe he knew he was going to die and set everything up so that Dean would find that, but nobody else?

When they got back inside the Impala, Dean brought the parchment back out, along with the four letters. He compared the handwriting side by side and quickly deduced that they belonged to each author. He had to reread the one from.

_Love always,_

_Mary_

“It must be my mom,” Dean said.

“That would seem logical.”

“Wow. I can’t believe I would ever find out who she was. And missing in action? That means she might still be alive. Dad, too…well, unless dad is Henry. But it looks more like Henry was my uncle or something, since he wrote so little in his letter.”

Cas watched Dean as he fumbled through the papers.

“Maybe if I do all of these tasks, I’ll be able to find my mom…”

“Perhaps,” Cas said softly.

“Guess we should go look for demons now. You have any leads on where they might be?”

“I’m sure there will be a few soon. They have this town targeted as a place you have lived. It won’t take long for a scout to spot you.”

“Alright,” said Dean. He glanced out of the window and at the setting sun. “I guess we can just wait somewhere, maybe a high traffic place.”

“That makes sense.”

Dean left Bobby’s place for what he assumed would be the last time. There was no reason to feel sour, since Bobby had given Dean something extremely valuable—a lead. Who was Linda Tran and why didn’t she leave the 23rd man a letter, too?

He parked the Impala on a side street and waited. Night was falling and his stomach growled.

“Can you go pick up dinner?” Dean asked.

“What sort of dinner?”

“Fast food or something. Here.”

Dean pulled his wallet out and gave Cas a ten. The angel took it and looked it over curiously, then Dean pointed to a burger joint down the block.

“Anything, get me anything. Thanks.”

“Very well.”

Cas left the car and walked down the street quickly. Dean watched him, chuckling to himself. Cas was cute. He was very cute. His awkwardness made him all the more appealing.

“HEY!”

Suddenly Dean was snapped out of his ogling by someone yelling at him and rapping on the window. Dean rolled it down and saw an angry man standing there.

“You’re in a no parking zone!” the guy shouted. Dean looked around and saw no sign.

“Uh, says who?”

“Says the city ordinance! Move your car!”

“I don’t see _anything_ that tells me I can’t park here. Listen, buddy, I grew up here and I—“

“Move your car _or else_ ,” the man said, this time his eyes blinked and turned solid black for a second.

“Aye!” Dean shouted. His heart raced. A demon? Now? Was this really the time, when Castiel wasn’t close by?

“Little Winchester,” the man taunted. He shoved his hand into the car and grabbed Dean around the throat.

“Damn!” Dean choked. His hand fumbled around his waist, searching for the demon killing knife. There was little chance that they knew he had it. “Hey—Buddy!”

Dean chuckled and the demon kept staring. His upper lip twitched.

“There’s an angel behind ya!” Dean yelled.

When the demon turned around to look, his hold on Dean loosened and gave him the perfect chance to lunge forward and strike him with the blade. Castiel was, of course, still standing in line at the burger place, but the demon didn’t know that.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!”

In a great burst of flame, the demon died and turned into ash. Dean groped around his throat to make sure he was alright, then he got out of the car and tucked the blade away. Cas was coming back with a paper bag of food now. He ran.

“Dean? What happened? I heard things…”

With a smirk, Dean kicked the ash on the ground and said, “One down, one hundred and ninety-nine to go.”


	11. Diamonds and Rubies

 The hunt was on.

For the first two or three months, finding demons proved to be quite easy; if Dean hung around any given area for more than an hour, they would find out and begin to take him down. The only difficulty was getting used to stabbing people. It was troublesome for Dean since no matter how many times he told himself, “they’re demons, not people” it still felt like he was murdering innocent lives under the radar of the law. He tried not to think about it.

Castiel and Dean were constantly on the move. They never stayed in one place too long, since the more demons that appeared, the higher the chance of them hurting people grew. So they would sweep in, ice a few, make sure it was secure then be on their way. Dean was sleeping in the backseat of the Impala consistently; a pillow and blanket remained back there at all times. Cas stayed up front, but often times as Dean was waking up, he’d pretend to still be asleep and slowly pull his blanket down. Cas would reach back in a few minutes and bring the blanket back up to his face, petting him gently. Dean wondered why Cas had no problem touching Dean while he was asleep, yet he kept a safe distance during awake hours.

Dean was getting sick of showering in weird places, too. Indoor pools, community centers, homeless shelters—he tolerated an incredible amount of gnarly spots in order to save money. Bobby had given him generous amounts throughout his life but he had to be careful. He could be facing years of jobless demon hunting, so the money had to last a while.

“I’m gonna get a real room tonight,” Dean said one day while they were driving at night. “I can’t stand this anymore.”

“Very well.”

He pulled off at the first rest stop and nabbed a space at a motel. It was fairly empty.

Castiel stayed in the car while Dean paid for a room and came back with a key. He got his bags from the car and motioned for Cas to follow. They set up in room 12.

“I’m gonna take a shower. A real, good, nice, private shower.”

“I understand.”

Dean grabbed his toiletries and zoomed off towards the bathroom. It was a relief to be in there. He turned on the tap and let it run hot, real hot. Steam fogged up the room and a big smile stretched across Dean’s face. He undressed and stepped into the tub.

“I need this,” he said to himself, chuckling.

He let the hot water run down his body, taking his time and soaking up the moment. He lathered up his hair and rinsed it out, then picked up his soap and rubbed himself down with suds. Had Cas ever experienced a shower? Dean thought he might offer him the chance to try it out. Then he closed his eyes and imagined Cas getting in the shower with him right now. Was it sacrilegious? A sopping wet angel, beautiful before his eyes…yeah…that was nice…

Dean began to grow a boner as he thought about it more. Castiel was strong and dangerous, yet he was also very innocent. When Dean said something that the angel didn’t understand, this look of utter perplexity struck his face. Dean liked it.

His hand slid down to his crotch and began to rub his erection. Here he was, stuck on the road so far with an angel he had strong feelings for, almost twenty-two and still a virgin. Considering what Jo said, Dean agreed in his head that he was, indeed, gay.

The young man leaned back against the wall and jerked himself off slowly, thumbing around the head of his cock gingerly. The shower continued to burst its hot water all over him as he rubbed and rubbed, letting small groans come out here and there.

Oh, Cas was gorgeous wasn’t he? He was Dean’s guardian angel, the reason that he always had such slippery luck—things going wrong but he still managed to get out of it alright. No matter how much Dean told himself that they had a special bond that shouldn’t be mucked up by sexual feelings, his desire to _be_ with Cas was still overwhelming.

“Oh—GOD!”

Dean cried as he rubbed a cumshot out. Mouth open, gasping and grunting, he stroked his cock and got the few last drops of pearly white to ooze forth. He caught his breath for a moment, rinsed off then got out of the shower. He toweled dry and went to the mirror, taking note of how red his cheeks and lips were from his wanking session. It wasn’t just that, though; he hadn’t looked in a mirror besides the ones in his car for a while. He was aging fast.

“Dean, are you alright?”

Castiel’s voice asked on the other side of the door.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.”

He quickly put on clean underwear and came out. Cas was by the door with a concerned look on his face.

“I’m fine,” Dean repeated quickly.

“It sounded as if you were in pain.”

“Nah. No worries.”

He turned off all the lights in the little room and went to one of the beds. With the demon killing knife under his pillow, he got beneath the top sheet and settled for the night.

“I’m gonna get some sleep, and I bet it’ll be decent, too. We’ll keep going early.”

“I understand.”

“Night, Cas.”

“Good night, Dean.”

As Dean drifted off into a lovely slumber, cradled by a real bed and not the cold leather of the Impala, Castiel stood right by him. He watched Dean all night.

* * *

 

Dean had killed thirty six by demons now. He was getting better at detecting the subtle nuances of demonic activity, but he still didn’t have the ability that Cas did. They could breeze through a town and if Cas concentrated hard enough, he could pick up on even small levels of demonic activity. This was very helpful except that the news of Dean possessing a demon killing knife was starting to spread. Demons went from seeking him out to fleeing in fear. Also, since Cas was with Dean constantly, the demons were learning about his tethered angel as well.

“Here,” Castiel said, pointing to a side street in the middle of a suburban town. “I can sense something this way. It’s not very strong.”

“Okay.”

Dean went down that way and drove for a little bit. The street was crowded with small houses, most of which looked relatively impoverished. As they neared the end, Cas told him to stop. He looked at a tiny rambler. The lights were off and there were no cars parked in the cracked driveway.

“Here?” Dean asked.

“Yes. I can feel a demon. It is a very weak one, but a demon nonetheless.”

“Alright then.”

Dean stopped the car and he got out. The usual plan was that he would go ahead and Cas would stay behind as backup, in case the situation got out of hand.

As he walked up to the house he expected the demon in question to come out, (they usually would), but even up until the door there was no movement. He knocked. He waited. Then a young woman opened up and looked at him funny. She was short and with long, straight dark hair and a face somewhat like a frog, although very pretty.

“Where is it?” she asked, sassing somewhat.

“Where’s what?”

“The _pizza?”_

“What?” Dean frowned. The woman looked around.

“I ordered almost an hour ago. This is ridiculous. You can say goodbye to your tip.”

“I’m not the pizza man,” Dean insisted, rather confused. The women narrowed her eyes.

“Then who in the Hell are you?”

Cas got out of the car and rushed up to the house. Immediately the woman froze and began to walk backwards as her hands clapped over her mouth.

“A-a-angel!!” she yelped. “P-please! Don’t hurt me! P-p-please!”

Dean looked back at Cas. “What’s going on?!” he asked sharply.

“She’s a demon,” said Cas. “Use your blade.”

“WAIT!”

A male voice called out from within the house. Dean had his hand on the hilt of his knife, but he paused. A young man, somewhere around Dean’s age or possibly younger, came to the door. He was taller than Dean and had smooth hair that went past his ears.

“What’s going on?” he asked the woman, who was still frozen in fear.

“Angel!” she gasped, looking up at the man. Their size difference almost made the guy twice her height.

“What?!” The man asked. He glared at Dean. “Which one?”

“T-trench coat!”

“Dean, use your blade,” Cas insisted once more.

“Well hold on a second,” said Dean. “Who’s this guy? Is he a demon?”

Cas shook his head. “No, just a human.”

Dean leered at the other man. “Why are you living with a demon?”

Here, the young woman lowered her hands a bit, now shaking in fear, and muttered, “I-I’m not like other demons. I p-promise. Please don’t h-hurt me. I d-don’t want to hurt you.”

“Should we trust her?” Dean asked Cas in the loudest whisper he could do.

“Never trust a demon.”

A beat up Corolla with a bright blue top-sign pulled up behind Dean’s car, then a guy with a hot bag and a baseball cap walked out. He approached the house with some hostility. Dean and Cas looked back at him.

“Oh, great,” the tall man said. “Now the pizza arrives.”

Hesitating, the pizza man came to the door and pulled a box from the hot bag, then offered it to Dean. “Not mine,” he said, pointing to the couple in the door way. The other guy took it and handed him some cash.

“Thanks,” the pizza man said softly before making a mad dash back to his car. It drove off with a squeal. Dean went back to the woman.

“So what’s going on here?” he asked.

“Why are you with an angel?!” the woman gasped. “Who are you?!”

Dean blinked. She didn’t know? Every demon knew who he was. They recognized him right away. Even Castiel was taken aback by her comment.

“Why are you with an angel?!” she asked once more. “Are you here to kill me?!”

“Well uh,” Dean began with a wince, “You could say that.”

“ _Please_ , I’m not like other demons. I mean that. I _promise_. I haven’t hurt people in a _really_ long time.”

“So then you admit that you have,” Cas said with a sharp pulse.

“I _used_ to be like the others,” the woman continued. Her eyes began to well up with tears and the tall man put his arm around her for comfort. “But that was before I found Sam.”

“It’s true,” the man who was apparently named Sam said. “She’s good. You have my word, too.”

Dean and Cas exchanged looks. Dean took out his blade and showed it to the woman, who flinched and went deeper into Sam’s arms for safety.

“Here,” said Dean. “I’ll make you a deal. We’ll come in and hear your story, but if you try anything— _anything_ —we’re gonna kick your ass.”

“And if I don’t try anything?” the woman asked. Dean let out a sigh.

“Then we’ll tell you what _we_ are doing.”

“Deal,” she agreed with a nod. They followed her inside.

The house wasn’t as messy as the outside made it look. The living room was neatly organized with a set of sofas, a coffee table that had fresh flowers in a vase and a computer desk in the corner. There were posters on the walls and a small bookshelf. Castiel was visibly uncomfortable as he sat next to Dean on one sofa. The woman sat on the other one and Sam joined her, after he put the pizza in the kitchen.

“I worked in Hell for most of my life,” the woman explained, looking at her hands. “It’s not fun. Being a demon isn’t fun. But I had no choice. At least, I thought I didn’t.

“Things changed for me when I met Sam. He was just a baby. One of the victims they had been torturing gave birth to him and the other demons were raising him. They said he was going to be like them. That’s when I began to think for myself. I realized…”

The woman paused. She looked at Dean and then Cas. Something that resembled pity appeared on her face, particularly focused on Cas.

“I realized that I had free will,” she said. “No matter what they said or where I came from. So I stole the baby and ran. Somehow I managed to stay under the radar.”

“But you’re dating him now?” Dean asked, turning a bit red in the face. Sam put his arm around the woman again and pulled her close.

“Yes,” they both said. Then they kissed. Dean grimaced.

“Dude,” he said in Sam’s direction. “How can you date a _demon?_ ”

“I love her,” Sam said rather simply. “She saved me from a horrible fate and has never done anything to make me think she’s evil. I see no reason not to date her.”

“Blasphemy,” Castiel grumped.

“Well what do you expect?!” the woman hissed at him. “I’m still a demon on some level!"

“Even demons aren't allowed to mates with humans," said Cas. "Fundamental rules."

Dean glanced at him and grew embarrassed. This was a side of Cas that he had never experienced before. So, sex with humans and angels was off limits, was it? There goes that fantasy.

“So do I pass? Did that count as holding up my end of the bargain?”

“Sure,” said Dean. “I guess you wanna hear about us now, huh?”

“I’m interested. How does a man get to know an angel, anyway?”

“We’re on a mission,” Dean explained. “I’m going across the country to kill demons because…well…I guess considering what you’ve been through, this might be a good thing—we’re gonna seal the gates of Hell once and for all.”

The woman took a moment to digest what they had told her. She narrowed her eyes at Dean and then asked, “Why?”

“It’s my destiny I guess. And Cas, my angel buddy, is just helping me out. I’m Dean, by the way.”

“Ruby,” said the woman. “So do you guys want some pizza?”


	12. Leak of Faith

Dean had been talking to an angel his entire life. He was adopted by a man who later turned out to know his entire past. Demons were hunting him because he was trying to seal the gates of Hell, and now he was hunting demons for the same reason. Dean’s life was far from ordinary, but the extent of its strangeness didn’t hit home until he was sitting around a table and sharing pizza with his angel, a demon and another human.

“I hope you seal the gates,” said Ruby. “They deserve to rot downstairs and downstairs only. Motherfuckers.”

Sam chuckled. “Strong words, babe.”

“I don’t care.”

Dean helped himself to a second slice of pizza but kept his eyes focused on the couple. Even though he was skeptical of a guy who would hook up with a demon, there was a cute element to the way they acted. He wondered if he and Cas looked like that.

“So uh, Ruby,” Dean began. “Demons need to eat and sleep, I guess?”

“Yes. Why? Don’t you?”

“Well, angels don’t.” He looked at Cas, who had been sitting and the table idly the entire time.

“Angels and demons are very different, Dean,” Ruby said.

“How?”

“Angels are souls that did good, but demons are souls that did bad.”

Dean brought his attention back to Cas. “Is that true?” he asked. The angel nodded. He looked at Ruby once more. “So then you used to be human as well, but you were rotten to the core and got the boot.”

“Something like that,” Ruby said sadly. She nibbled on a slice of pizza and sighed. “I don’t remember, but I also try not to think about it. I’ve concluded that the past doesn’t really matter. It’s all about shaping the future.”

Dean nodded. “Okay, I get that.”

They finished up dinner and Ruby wanted to speak with Sam alone, leaving Dean and Cas in the kitchen. Dean took a deep breath and leaned close to Cas. “Is this okay?” he asked.

“Yes,” Cas said in a soft voice. “I am of course skeptical, but as Sam said, she hasn’t done anything to convince me that she is ill-intended.”

“Yeah, thought so. But uh, tell me something, Cas…”

“Yes?”

“Demons and humans mating,” Dean said quickly. “Why’s that bug you so much?”

“It’s not allowed,” Cas answered. “Angels and demons aren’t supposed to breed with humans as it can affect their spiritual development.”

“O-okay…”

Then Cas looked sad. He peered downwards and let out a sigh.

“I suppose I’m not one to talk, though,” he said.

“What d’you mean?”

“I have already gone against orders.”

“Orders? Whose orders?”

“The Heavenly rules. I’m not supposed to assist a human in the way that I have you. Angels are told to avoid making soul pacts as well.”

“What?!” Dean gasped. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Are you serious?! You mean this whole time you’ve been going against what angels are supposed to do?!”

“Yes,” Cas said softly. He turned his eyes to Dean and blinked in a slow, sad manner.

“Then why? Why’d you do it?”

“Because I care for humans very much.”

“Oh, Cas…”

They stared at each other for a moment, eyes twinkling. Dean wanted to put his arms around him, but considering the discussion they had just had, he thought it would be better to wait on that.

“Are you gonna get in trouble?”

“I don’t think so. I thought this was a special circumstance given your destiny.”

Dean nodded. Before he could say anything else, Ruby and Sam returned. They looked happy.

“What’s the good word?” Dean asked.

“Well,” said Ruby, taking her space at the table once more, “We were discussing what you two are doing.”

“And?”

The couple exchanged looks. Ruby smiled.

“We want to help.”

Dean huffed.

“What makes you think you’re qualified?”

Ruby folded her arms and shot an angry glare at him, but Sam put his hand on her shoulder and rubbed gently to console.

“What makes you think _you’re_ qualified?” the woman retorted.

“Uhh. Demon killing knife. Been on the road with an angel, ganking your kind. I think that makes me pretty qualified.”

“Alright,” Ruby agreed, loosening up a bit. “Fair enough. But please note that I want to seal those gates just as much as you do. I want to kill them, too. Plus, I know where to find the biggest and baddest of them.”

Dean raised his eyebrows. He looked at Cas for a second and wet his lips.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Of course I do,” Ruby said. “I’ve lived that life for thousands of years. Now, I understand we’ve just met and you’re skeptical, but let me prove myself to you, and you’ll see that you need me on your team.”

“Not conceited at all,” Dean said with a rolling of his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” Sam then chimed in. “I know she might sound arrogant but I think you should at least try to trust her. If it helps, you can stay here, whether or not you choose to accept our help.”

“Fine. I guess. Cas?”

“Yes?”

“Is that okay?”

“Yes.”

Dean and Cas were given the spare bedroom in the back of the house. It had a twin-sized bed and an empty desk with a wooden chair. It was already quite late and Dean was looking forward to sleeping on a bed, despite the arrangements.

“I will keep watch,” said Cas. “If there is suspicious activity, I will take care of it. Ruby knows that if she turns on us, her life is over.”

“Cool.”

Dean stripped down to his underwear and got in bed. The mattress felt unused. It was nice and firm. He would surely be asleep in no time.

Castiel stood in the room for about two hours, then he went into the hallway and patrolled the house quietly. He kept his thin, silver blade at the ready in case Ruby had set up a trap.

Just to be sure, he crept into the couple’s bedroom to see if any foul play was going on. Instead, he saw that they were both fast asleep. Sam was on his back with his big strong arms wrapped around Ruby, who cuddled into his chest and slept peacefully. Cas stared at them for a while. He was intrigued by their relationship.

In the morning, Dean awoke to the smell of bacon cooking. The last time he had experienced in-home cooking was while he stayed with Benny and his family in Louisiana. This was a delight to his senses and he found himself rolling right out of bed and into the kitchen, where Ruby was standing by the griddle with a big bathrobe on.

“Morning, Dean,” she said in a sleepy voice.

“Hey. You makin’ bacon?”

“Yeah, but ten to one says Sam gets mad when he sees. I’ll tell him it’s for the guests.”

“Why would he get mad?” Dean asked, coming to the counter and looking around. “You got a coffee pot?”

“Right over here,” said Ruby. “And he doesn’t exactly approve of my eating habits. He’s a _health conscious_ sort of guy.”

Dean just rolled his eyes as he helped himself to a cup of coffee. In hindsight, it wouldn’t have hurt him to be a little less trusting, but perhaps being around Sam and Ruby in their cozy home and happy relationship made Dean realize how much he wanted a normal life. Blending in came naturally.

As Ruby predicted, the first thing out of Sam’s mouth when he came into the kitchen was, “Bacon? Really? I thought we talked about this.”

“For the guests,” Ruby said, shooting a wink to Dean.

“Okay, that’s fine,” said Sam. “Just make sure you have fruit or something with it.”

Ruby picked a piece of bacon straight off of the griddle and ate it, licking her lips. Sam shook his head but gave her a kiss anyway.

“So how did you sleep last night, Dean?” Sam asked.

“Great, actually. Thanks.”

“It’s no problem. We never have guests.”

“I can’t imagine why…have you seen Cas?”

“Out front,” said Ruby.

“Be right back.”

Still holding his mug, Dean slipped out of the kitchen and went through the living room. He opened the front door and saw Castiel standing there, looking out into the street.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Everything alright?”

“Yes.”

Cas wasn’t moving so Dean figured he’d come around and look at him. The angel was staring straight forward with the usual blank expression.

“What’re you thinking about?”

“This couple,” said Cas. “I’m fascinated by their dynamic. How does a demon—this twisted, corrupted soul—manage to make a life for herself with a human?”

“You heard what she said,” Dean explained after taking a sip. “She broke away. Didn’t want anything to do with it. Free will and all that.”

“Yes…free will…”

Cas looked down and sighed.

“What?” asked Dean.

“Free will is frowned upon in Heaven. When we evolve into angels, there are certain liberties we choose to give up.”

“Like eating and sleeping?”

“Similar, yes,” said Cas, “But I am referring to relationships. Angels aren’t supposed to have _feelings_ for humans.”

“Oh,” Dean hummed. He felt his cheeks turning hot. “So uh, what’s that have to do with you?”

Cas got a little flustered now. He shifted on his heels and turned around to go back inside. “It doesn’t matter,” he said quickly. “I picked my fate, I knew what I was choosing.”

“Woah, hey, wait a minute!”

“Ask no more on these matters, Dean.”

* * *

 

They spent one more night at Sam and Ruby’s house until they headed out. Though both Dean and Cas were slightly uncomfortable with the idea, the couple was going to travel with them in the Impala. By now they were used to Ruby’s hospitality and had nothing against her, except for the fact that she was a demon. That alone was enough to keep them on edge.

“There’s a place not too far from here,” Ruby said as they were gearing up to leave in the morning. “It used to be a water treatment plant, but it got shut down a couple decades ago and some demons set up camp there.”

“Sounds like the right spot for us,” Dean agreed.

He loaded everyone’s luggage into the trunk then went around to sit inside. Sam and Ruby were in the back and Cas, naturally, remained in the passenger’s seat.

Ruby gave directions and in just a few hours they arrived at the old water treatment plant. It was flagged with NO TRESPASSING and other such warnings, but nobody in their team cared about that. Dean was going to head inside alone, but Ruby warned it might be overrun with demons. Cas agreed to go with him.

Overrun was no exaggeration.

From the moment Dean stepped inside the wasted old building, he was met with a swarm of demons. They had been living there for quite some time, having turned the rooms into suitable demon nests. It stunk of garbage and dead bodies. Dean saw several rotten corpses which were surely humans that had come in before him. But none of them were lucky enough to have had a demon killing knife.

“Oh, you wanna play?” Dean taunted the group of demons. “Let’s play.”

When he showed the power of his knife, sending several bodies to the floor as piles of smoldering ash, most of the demons backed off. That didn’t matter, though, since Dean was determined to get them no matter what.

He battled for a while. Sweat soaked his clothes. His muscles ached. The good news was that, in addition to making great progress with his first movement, he was honing his fighting skills.

By the time he and Cas could successfully say the building was cleared, Dean counted almost sixty demons dead all together, leaving one hundred and forty to complete the first trial.

“Damn, Ruby,” Dean said, arriving back at the car as a hot mess. “If you keep pointing us in directions like this, I’ll be done in no time.”

Ruby smiled from the backseat.

“I told you I was helpful.”

“Touché,” said Dean. “Where’s the next place?”

“One state over, about a ten hour drive.”

“How ‘bout we get some dinner and call it a night?”

“That sounds fine.”

They picked up some fast food (much to Sam’s disappointment) and found a motel about two hours later down the highway. They agreed on getting just one room since money was tight. Sam and Ruby could cuddle up in one bed while Dean had another. This was serious business and not the time to fight about comfort.

“So I’ve been wondering…” Dean began. He had just come out of the bathroom from taking a shower and was ready to hit the hay. Sam and Ruby were sitting together on top of the covers. “How do you have any money? Like what’s keeping the lights on at the house?”

“We have a job,” said Sam. “An odd one, but a job nonetheless.”

“What sorta work can a demon do?”

“All sorts,” Ruby said with a sniff. “As long as nobody knows what I am, I’m fine. And having demon powers gives me all sorts of ways to kill _other things_.”

“Other things? Like what?”

“Ghosts, werewolves, vampires…anything that might go bump in the night.”

Dean pulled back the covers on his bed and got in, looking at Ruby oddly. Nobody else in the room seemed to think her comment was odd, so Dean shrugged it off.

“I guess you could say we’re a team of paranormal investigators,” Sam explained. “Only, don’t tell our customers what we’re actually doing.”

“Actually?”

“Oh,” Ruby interjected, “They think we’re Catholic priests or something, who come around and exorcise ghosts away. But in reality we just kill them.”

“Gotcha,” said Dean. “Glad to hear it.”

Little idle chatter continued after that. Dean eventually fell asleep then Sam and Ruby followed shortly thereafter. Castiel, however, took a seat in the corner and watched all three of them.

Around two am, Ruby woke up groggily. She got out of Sam’s arms and saw Castiel staring at her. She groaned and said, “I can hear your angel radio.”

“My apologies,” said Cas.

“Can’t you at least try to sleep?”

“I’ve never found a decent reason to.”

“Maybe keeping the rest of us awake?” Ruby stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes. When she saw Cas was still staring at her sadly, she blinked hard and asked, “Is something bothering you?”

Cas immediately stood up.

“May I speak to you in private? Outside…”

“Erm. Sure.”

Confusedly, Ruby followed Cas out the front door and onto the sidewalk that wrapped around the building. The world was perfectly quiet except for a soft buzz from the tall lamps in the parking lot.

“What’s wrong?” Ruby asked.

“Being with Sam,” Cas started, “Does it make you happy?”

“Of course it does. I wouldn’t do it if it didn’t.”

“Is that why, then?”

“What, why I do it?” Ruby asked. She folded her arms from the night’s chilly air and peered up at Castiel, who gazed out into the distance.

“Yes.”

“There’re a lot of reasons why I’m with Sam. I took him away from the demons because I didn’t want that innocent child to be corrupted. You could argue that my old human self was showing up when I thought that, since I guess demons aren’t supposed to have ideas like that. It didn’t matter, though. He needed help and I gave it to him.

“While I was raising him, it occurred to me that humans are really worth saving, you know? Demons spend all their time trying to kill them or corrupt them, slowly make them turn and join their side…but it’s useless, I’d say. Human life is valuable. Sam is a wonderful person. He’s sweet, caring and strong. The idea of him becoming a demon horrifies me still.”

“I understand,” said Cas. “That is all very logical. Angels care about humans, but in different ways than humans do amongst themselves. However, can you tell me what made you initiate a physical relationship with him?”

Ruby chuckled.

“He grew up and realized I wasn’t just his caretaker. I guess we happened to fall in love. It’s hard to explain. I’ll assume angels can’t feel that way about people.”

Cas looked down. He was silent. Ruby narrowed her eyes and tried to catch his sight.

“Wait a minute,” she said, a smirk growing on her face. “Are you saying…”

“What has happened to me?” Cas asked in a small voice. “Here I stand, an angel beside a demon, willing to express my sins.”

“Sins? What did you do?”

Cas’ eyes closed firmly and he sat up straight again. He took a deep breath then looked in Ruby’s direction, but not making eye contact.

“I have feelings for Dean,” he admitted.

“So?”

“I am his guardian, not his lover. I am already…ah…I can’t tell you this…”

“Can’t tell me what?”

“I am sworn to the secrecy of a soul pact.”

“Oh!” Ruby gasped. “Angels can do that?!”

“Yes,” Cas said with a bit of surprise. “How do you know about them?”

“I always thought it was a demon thing.”

“Certainly not. I was told it is strictly angelic, although we aren’t supposed to make them.”

Ruby laughed now. She covered her mouth to quiet the chuckles but they came anyway. Castiel stared at her.

“I’m sworn to a soul pact, too!” she said. Cas’ eyes widened. “There’s more to me and Sam, but I just can’t tell you.”

“But…even though you are sworn, you have engaged in a physical relationship with him?”

“Yeah, why not?” Ruby said. “I love Sam. He loves me. If two people…angels…demons…whatever they are—if two beings are in love, why should a soul pact stop them? Why should expectations from their kind, their race or whatever, why should that stop them?” She lightly grabbed Cas’ arm now. “Listen to me, angel. I slaughtered humans under the direction of the Knights of Hell for centuries. I’ve seen everything. I’ve done everything. But, that young man in there…he’s changed my life. I’m not evil anymore, I’ve sworn evil forever. If you love Dean, go get him.”

Cas stood there and said nothing. Ruby smiled, patted his arm and said she was going to try and sleep more, but Cas remained on the sidewalk. He looked up at the sky and watched the stars. He wondered about Dean and him. He wondered about the keeper of his soul pact, but moreso he wondered about the one that Ruby and Sam had. And then he wondered about the Knights of Hell. That was a term he had never heard before. Was that something he needed to know about?


	13. Completing the First Trial

Dean was up before the others (except for Cas, of course) and just for shits and giggles he decided to check in the the direction tome. He pressed his hand on it, said the usual mantra then flipped to the marked page. In thin script it read, “ _Trust Ruby._ ”

“Welp, looks like we’re on the right path after all,” Dean said to Castiel quietly.

“I’m glad.”

“You wanna wake these goons up so we can keep on keepin’ on?”

“Of course.”

While Dean washed and dressed in the bathroom, Cas gave Sam and Ruby a gentle wake up call. Ruby took it upon herself to brew coffee in the crappy maker the room came with, while Sam humored the rest of them with his morning pushups.

“You’re a card,” Dean said to Sam, standing in the threshold to the bathroom as he teased product into his hair.

“I could—hngg—say the same thing about you.”

“Bullshit. How am I a card?”

Sam stopped his pushups and stood up, dusting himself off before smiling at Dean.

“For starters,” Sam said, “You drive a car almost twice your age. You refuse to eat anything unless it’s deep fat fried or soaked in grease. Your alcohol tolerance is that of a retired sailor and—oh—you insist on singing classic rock at the top of your lungs, even when there are three other people in the car who clearly object.”

“Harsh,” Dean groaned. “Real harsh.”

“You’re a card alright,” Sam insisted, laughing louder this time. “I never want to hear _Heat of the Moment_ ever again.”

“Whatever. We don’t have time to bitch anyway. Gotta hit the road.”

Dean was right. They had to move on. That ten hour drive was about seven now, and they had no time to waste. Dean worried if there was a time limit to complete the movements that hadn’t been properly translated.

They arrived at the next destination, which was a warehouse to a bakery company that was long since bankrupt. The inside was empty but the basement had been carved out into a demon lair. Dean iced them easily and was able to scratch 9 more demons off the list.

The place that followed was different. Apparently these demons had moved out into the woods and set up camp around a giant oak tree. At first glance they might have been more peaceful, but as soon as Dean showed up, they proved to be just as ruthless and diabolical as any other nest.

This pattern continued for almost two weeks; Dean, Cas, Ruby and Sam driving from point to point on Ruby’s direction, Dean bumping off some baddies then catching some Zs at a local motel.

There was a new level of understanding between Cas and Ruby since the night they revealed the existence of their soul pacts to each other. Knowing they had taken specials vows to the men they cared about brought them together. Cas, though, was still pining for Dean.

“We’re gonna get a separate room,” Ruby announced at the next motel. “Sam and I need some alone time.”

“Ooh,” Dean said, nodding slowly.

The couple pressed their noses together and smiled. Cas watched with a mixed look.

“We’ll see you in the morning,” said Sam. He took a key from the clerk in the office and waved as he walked off with Ruby.

“I’m almost gonna miss their company,” Dean said while he was paying for a room now.

“They have proven to be nice people,” Cas noted, “Regardless of where she’s come from.”

“Yeah I agree. C’mon. I’m beat.”

Cas followed Dean to their private room, where they locked the door and Dean immediately went to brush his teeth.

“I think I’ll shower tomorrow,” he said after spitting into the sink.

Cas walked around the room slowly. He gazed at the beat up boots Dean left by the front door, then the hook on the wall where he had hung his jacket. Cas’ hands touched the sides of his trench coat as he tilted his head, staring still.

“Only nine more demons and we’re done,” Dean said. He came out of the bathroom. “That’s huge. I never thought it’d be so easy. I really owe it to—“

Dean stopped dead. Beside the boots there was now a pair of sensible dress shoes, and hanging on the wall beside the olive jacket was the familiar tan trench. Cas stood in the middle of the room in his suit, which Dean had never fully seen before.

“Oh…Cas…”

It was hard to find words. Cas looked gorgeous. The suit was all black, sleek, and fitted his no doubt well-toned body perfectly. Then Cas turned and smiled at Dean. “This is certainly more comfortable,” he said.

“I’m—glad that you’re—finally feeling at home with me…”

“I am,” Cas said, nodding. “And there is something else I want to try.”

Dean swallowed stiffly. He held his breath as Cas pulled off the black blazer, revealing the full length of his white dress shirt and of course the blue tie in the center. He fidgeted with his belt and let the pants drop. He had boring cotton boxers beneath them, but Dean thought they were amazing.

“Wh-what are you doing?” Dean mumbled.

Cas stepped out of the pants, took them from the floor and folded them over a chair along the window. He then walked to the bed, pulled back the sheets and sat down.

“I want to try sleeping,” he said.

“Oh,” Dean gasped, “Right. That makes sense. Why not, right?”

“With you.”

“OH…”

Dean felt his face turn bright red. His legs began to tremble. Suddenly the fact that he was still a virgin was weighing on his shoulders heavy. Cas laid down on the bed but kept the sheets pulled back.

“Will you join me?” The angel asked in the most innocent voice. Clearly he was unaware of what he might be implying.

“Y-yeah. Sure.”

Forcing a smile to hide his embarrassment, Dean went to the bed and climbed in. Keeping a couple inches between himself and Cas, he tugged the covers up to their chests.

“How’s this?” Dean asked.

Cas closed his eyes. He was still on his back with his arms at his sides.

“When does the sleep begin?”

“It usually takes a few minutes. Sometimes longer.”

Dean turned on his side and looked at Cas. He was still nervous but it was starting to fade away. Cas was there. He was with him. There was no pressure to do anything, and Dean wasn’t even sure what Cas wanted. He was going to ask him if he had more “romantic” intentions, but considering how bad Cas felt about going against Heavenly orders, Dean stayed quiet. It was a good moment and it need not be ruined.

“It must be tiresome to do this every night.”

“I guess,” said Dean. “But when you’re tired, it feels good. And I think it’s nice to have someone to share it with, too.”

Cas turned his head to see Dean, where their eyes met and they both smiled. Cas was pretty when he smiled. His heavily hooded eyes creased around the edges and the blue in them flickered.

“Thanks for watching over me,” Dean whispered.

“You’re welcome,” Cas responded in an equally soft voice. “Regardless of any soul pact, I am happy to know you.”

“Cas…”

Dean put his hand out and lightly grabbed at Cas’ tie. “You should take this off. You’ll feel better.”

“Ah. Right.”

Cas stuck his fingers into knot of the tie and tried to tug it down. He struggled, so Dean decided to do it for him. The tie unfolded and he slipped it off.

“Better?” Dean asked. He let his hand stay on Cas’ chest—a delight to the senses.

“It is. Thank you.”

Cas put his hand over Dean’s, and Dean thought he might die right then and there.

“So is this,” the angel added.

He wasn’t very good at holding hands, but Dean was no expert either. Their fingers clumsily entwined.

Feeling inspired, Dean suddenly grabbed Cas’ cheek with his other hand, sitting up a bit and pulled him close for a kiss. Their lips touched awkwardly, both of them having zero experience with such things, yet Dean wanted it so badly that he made his best effort. Cas tightened his grip on Dean’s hand and pushed his mouth harder against Dean’s. They both grunted. Dean slipped his leg over Cas’ waist and straddled him.

“D-Dean,” Cas gasped, pulled away from the kiss.

“I just wanna kiss you forever,” Dean blurted out.

He let go of the hand and instead cupped Cas’ face with both. He pulled him in for another kiss, which the angel hardly objected to. Dean was rock hard and as he ground his hips against Cas, he felt that he was, too.

“Oh, Cas,” Dean moaned. Their foreheads touched now and they gazed into each other’s eyes.

“And so I’ve become a sinner,” Cas said.

“I don’t wanna ruin your life,” Dean hummed sadly. He thumbed over the angel’s cheeks. “You sure this is okay?”

“We’re merely kissing,” said Cas. “I don’t…I don’t believe that is reason for alarm.”

“Yeah,” Dean agreed with a chuckle. “Yeah that’s true. Just kissing.”

They spent considerable time sucking on each other’s faces. It was so new and exciting for them that they wanted to slowly figure out what felt best. Dean used his tongue while Cas let wild, unfettered moans escape his lips. They embraced and touched their faces gingerly, exploring the uncharted land. It was a relief to them both to finally express such feelings; the feelings they had both been harboring for some time.

Though he wanted to press further, Dean respected Cas’ “merely kissing” comment and left it at that. If they were going to complete all three movements together, then they had plenty of time to develop their relationship.

Relationship?

Dean told Cas about cuddling, which the angel took to right away. He had seen Ruby and Sam doing it, and although Dean was younger than him, in both years and his physical body, Cas found it suitable for him to rest in Dean’s arms. He protected Dean, sure, but he also felt that Dean held command over him.

* * *

Morning came and, when around Ruby and Sam, they acted as if nothing had happened. Dean certainly didn’t know about the discussion Cas had previously had with Ruby, so he assumed that it was none of their business in any way, shape or form.

The four of them were back on the road and in search of the final destination. Ruby said it was once a hospital, but the Knights of Hell moved in and wiped it clean. Ever since then, one of the ringleaders set up shop and used it as a headquarters.

“When you say Knights of Hell,” Dean asked, “What exactly are you talking about?”

“They are a group of high-ranking demons,” Ruby explained from her backseat. “They were put together years ago, when angels set up the Men of Letters.”

Dean’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. He shot a quick glance at Castiel, who was also looking at him.

“Men of Letters? What d’you know about the Men of Letters?”

“People that angels assembled to study demons, do research and whatnot to cut back on them. Believe me, they were real efficient, too. I lost most of my old demon _buddies_ to Men of Letters.”

“Tell me,” Cas interrupted, “What happened to the Men of Letters?”

“You don’t know?” Ruby asked. “One of their members betrayed them. Leaked information to a Knight of Hell. Most of them died. Only the five guys in the high council remained. Not sure what happened to them. I know they had the relics, though.”

“Relics?” Dean asked.

“There’s this legend about the high council putting certain powers into personal items. The five relics of the Men and the five relics of the Knights.”

“Jeez, you’re overflowing with knowledge, Ruby.”

“Oh, most of my education wasn’t from being a demon,” Ruby said, grinning. “It’s from Sam.”

“Sam?” Dean asked, looking surprised. He peeked into the rearview mirror and saw Sam sitting up straight, looking back at him with the most humble expression possible.

“What?” asked Sam.

“How’d you learn so much about the Men of Letters?”

“I got curious, that’s all. Ruby is a demon and naturally I thirsted for more knowledge. We have enough spare time on our hands to get into some neat libraries.”

“Huh…”

Dean needed a little time to mull over what they had discussed. When he heard about five people in the high council, the first thing he thought of was the list from Bobby’s secret room. Henry, John, Mary Winchester plus Linda Tran made five people; the five people who were last on the list and four of which were, at the time, still alive.

“The place we’re going to now is sure to have some heavy hitting demons in it,” Ruby said. “I think Cas should definitely come with you. You’ll find more than the twelve you need.”

Dean was confident in his abilities to fight the demons. He had killed almost two hundred, which was no small feat. He was ready for the toughest son of a bitch Ruby could hunt down.

The hospital was covered in ivy. A great big fence had been put around it, but many parts were torn open and gave them easy access. Ruby and Sam were in the car as usual, but Dean and Cas went in together.

“I’m not afraid, are you?” Dean asked.

“No. Why would I?”

“Just asking.”

They walked through the overgrown bush and right up to the front doors. They were closed but not locked. In the middle was a sigil of baphomet.

“Well that’s great,” Dean muttered. He recognized the goat in the pentagram right away as a sign of Satanism.

“There is no reason to worry,” Cas said. He let his own weapon drop down into his hand. “Keep your blade at the ready.”

Dean kicked open the door and walked in like he owned the place. Cas followed closely behind. They expected to be confronted by demons right away, but it was silent.

The hallways were much cleaner than any other demon hideout they had seen before. The walls had been painted black. Nothing inside resembled a hospital anymore.

“This way,” Dean said, tipping his chin in one direction of the hall. They went off carefully.

For a while, they wandered the halls with nothing but the sound of their footsteps following them. They both walked around with their blades at the ready.

Then, something was coming. It sounded like a large group. Cas warned Dean to get ready and they stood their ground. From one hallway, there came a bunch of demons. They were better behaved then regular demons, however they all stood in aggressive stances.

“Winchester!” One of them growled. “We knew you’d be coming.”

“Yeah and I knew you’d be going,” Dean said, flashing a cute grin. He liked to be sassy before kicking ass.

“The nerve!” Another demon yelled. “What a fool!”

“Don’t you see the angel with me?”

The demons all looked to Cas.

“Yes,” a few of them said.

“Oh but we aren’t afraid of an angel. Our leader says they aren’t dangerous.”

“Just morons with wings.”

Dean’s upper lip twitched. He held his blade tightly and went right into the group, hacking and slashing furiously. Left and right the demons burst into flames and dropped to the ground as piles of ash. They stood their ground, though, and kept trying to attack. Dean didn’t give up. He kept fighting. He kept stabbing.

The group was nearly eliminated when Dean suddenly dropped to the ground, wincing in pain that seemed to be coming from his arm.

“WAAAAH!” he called out.

Cas rushed in and stabbed out the remaining demons. They were gone. They were dead. The hospital was quiet again except for Dean shouting on the floor.

“Dean!” Cas yelped.

He ran to Dean’s side, squatting, and looked at his arm. He pulled up the sleeve and saw a tiny symbol glowing bright blue, just like his eyes.

“Wh-what is that?!” Dean gasped.

“It’s Enochian,” Cas said. “Angel writing. It’s a number one.”

Dean took a few deep breaths. The pain was passing. He sighed and relaxed.

“It must be telling you that the first trial has been completed,” Cas continued. “This is a good thing.”

They had to sweep the entire building before leaving. There were no more demons, but they did find an interesting room. It was carpeted with a lush, deep red shag and furnished nicely. A drapery that depicted the sigil of baphomet hung on the wall.

“Interesting,” Cas noted as they came in.

Dean walked around one side and found a liquor cabinet. Well, he thought it was a liquor cabinet until he realized the bottles were filled with old blood and other less savory fluids. He almost vomited. Time to move on.

“This,” said Cas. He held up a book that had been sitting, open, on a desk in the corner.

“What is it?”

Cas flipped through several pages, looking at it curiously. “It appears to be handwritten,” he said. “Most of it is in a language I can’t read, but I can pick up on a few parts. It’s discussing these five relics of the Knights that Ruby spoke of.”

“Grab it. Let’s go.”

“Of course.”

Cas held the book close and they finally left the building. Sam and Ruby were still sitting in the car, flopped over on each other. They perked up when Dean and Cas returned.

“How’d it go?” Sam asked.

“Great,” said Dean. “Check this out.”

He pulled up his sleeve and showed the symbol. Ruby shaded her eyes.

“Oww!” she cried. “Too much angel power! It hurts, put it away!”

“Ahh, get over it.”

Dean let the sleeve go anyway, then he told Cas to show them the book. Sam looked impressed.

“Oh, wow,” he said. “This is amazing.”

“What d’you make of it?” Dean asked.

Ruby was interested in it, too.

“A Knight of Hell wrote it, that’s for sure,” she said.

“Can you read it?”

“I think so.”

“Alright. Well, what’s next? That’s it for the demon killing. Okay, I guess if we see more I’ll ice ‘em, but only ‘cause I like you guys and you want them dead, too.”

Nobody thought Dean’s comment was very funny.

“The next movement,” Cas said. He recalled what the translation said. “’ _As the merciful breast is cloven in two, does the 23 rd man climb the second movement.’”_

“Any ideas?” Dean asked.

“Consult the tome.”

“Right, right.”

While Sam and Ruby were kept busy with the Satan book, Dean brought out his direction tome and asked it for help. He flipped to the marked page and saw an address.

_309 Tenning St, Lawrence, KS – go to the marked door, wear dark robes, bring Ruby_


	14. And Starting the Second

 

On their way to Kansas, Dean insisted on keeping the trend of separate rooms. Now that they had finally made that step into a more physical relationship, he needed to keep it going. But the first night, Ruby and Sam were all in Dean’s room to discuss what they had found out.

“According to the most recent notes,” Sam explained, the dark book open on a table in front of him, “All but one of the Knights of Hell remains. It doesn’t say anything about who they are, though. _But_ it mentions these five relics, each of which one of the top five Knights had ‘christened’ so to speak in their name.

“Apparently there’s an angel tablet that parallels the demon one who guys have been talking about. That’s where you got the three trials, right?” Dean and Cas agreed here. “Okay, well the demon one was made by angels and the angel one was made by demons. You can probably guess what the angel tablet does.”

Dean didn’t want to answer, but Cas said, “Sealing the gates of Heaven…”

“Which ultimately means all deceased souls either stick around or they go to Hell,” Sam added.

Nobody liked the sound of that, but Ruby in particular seemed upset. She was the only one of them that actually knew what it was like down there.

“Anyway,” Sam continued, taking a deep breath, “The thing I found particularly interesting is that, according to these writings, there is a universal gate that both the angel and demon tablets are completed at. Depending on the trials completed and the relics used, the gate reflects either Heaven or Hell. It’s pretty strange. Kind of hard for me to get my head around.”

“Figured out more than I could,” said Dean. He looked to Cas. “So what’s this all mean?”

“If there is an entity out there who is attempting to close the gates to Heaven, then we are in trouble. But I feel that I would know if such an atrocity has begun. The demons surely know of Dean’s progress.”

“Alright, cool. Then it doesn’t really bother us. What d’you think, Ruby? Got any demon edge to throw in?”

“No,” Ruby said, shaking her head. “Just that you need to complete the trials. You really do.”

“I know…”

“Well,” Sam said loudly as he stood up, “I think we’ll go to our room now. See you in the morning.”

“See ya.”

“Good night, Dean.”

“Night, Ruby.”

The couple left and Dean flopped back onto his bed. He stared at the ceiling as the gears in his mind twisted and turned. When would the folklore end? Every time he turned around, he was learning of more secret societies, more enchanted objects and more freaky shit that had to be done. Castiel came and sat down beside him.

“You’re worried,” he said.

“’Course I’m worried,” Dean answered. “Who wouldn’t be? _You’re_ worried.”

“I am. It’s true. Perhaps this is why we shouldn’t have relationships with humans.”

“What?” Dean asked. He sat up now and looked at Cas concernedly.

“Fate is fate, Dean,” Cas explained. “What is meant to happen shall come to pass, but as I’ve developed my feelings for you, the idea of you enduring pain makes me uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, but, uh, aren’t you supposed to watch over me? Make sure I’m safe? I thought nothing bad could happen if you’re here?”

“That is correct,” Cas said, “But as I said, fate is fate…”

Dean sighed. He didn’t understand. All he knew was that Cas was sad and that made _him_ sad. He hugged him.

“Thought we were all about free will,” Dean murmured against Cas’ shoulder. “Choosing our destiny, changing our fate.”

“I suppose.”

“So if you choose free will, I’ll choose free will. No fuckin’ fate is gonna stop me from doing what I have to do, especially if that means being with you.”

“Dean…”

They kissed. Cas laid back and allowed Dean to topple him, still kissing hotly. Dean took both of Cas’ hands and pinned them down to the mattress, now grinding his hips against the angel.

“Dean!” Cas yelped.

“This is all I want,” Dean groaned, slopping his mouth over Cas’ cheek and to his ear. “This is all I need.”

Dean knew what was going to happen and it seemed that Cas did, too. Their actions moved fluidly and in a perfection that Dean would never have assumed possible for his first time. He unbutton Cas’ shirt and pulled it off, then undid his belt and yanked the whole thing off, underwear included. Castiel was naked beneath him now, something Dean hadn’t seen yet. His body was firm yet soft, masculine yet delicate, then a light trail of dark hair led to his crotch. Dean stared as he undressed himself.

“Then this is free will,” Cas moaned.

The men were nude now, entwining their limbs and rubbing hot cocks together. Cas arched his back naturally and gave a loud cry.

“It’s okay?” Dean asked. His hand slipped between them and grabbed a hold of Cas’ erection. The angel wriggled in his fist and blushed furiously.

“Y-yes, it’s certainly o-okay…”

Dean then let go and grabbed up Cas’ legs. He rolled them back and exposed the angel’s ass, which proved to be more delightful than Dean ever imagined. He spent years wondering what this moment would be like, and now that it had arrived, there were zero disappointments. Being with Cas was more than exploring his lustful side—it was perfect, it was harmonious. They had a strange connection that seemed to share understanding without words.

“I-I’m going to fuck you,” Dean said. Once the words came out, he realized how stupid he sounded, but Cas didn’t care. He likely didn’t even know what it meant.

It was lucky for Cas that he didn’t feel pain in the same way that humans do, since Dean didn’t exactly think to use any lubricant. He spat on his hand and slathered it over his cock to ease himself in better, but Cas’ hole was raw and untouched. It didn’t matter. Cas’ body healed instantly unless it was marked by a weapon against angels.

“H-how is it,” Dean grunted, nervously pushing himself inside the impossibly tight hole. He felt sweat running down his back. He held his breath.

“Ooh…ooh, my…”

Cas wiggled and writhed into the mattress. A delighted smile was on his face, eyes closed. Dean pushed further and managed to slide into the ring of muscle. A flourish of pleasure went rippling through his body. Standing on his knees, Dean found himself twitching and convulsing, overstimulated by the amazing feeling of being inside Cas.

“F-fuck!” Dean shouted. He began to rock his hips. The feeling was warm and good, squeezing his hard so tight and almost tugging him deeper inside.

He spread Cas’ legs and leaned down to grab him, kissing furiously. Spit ran down their mouths. Cas gasped. He ground his hips back up against Dean’s as loud moans spurted between kisses.

“DEAN!”

“Aaah, Caaas!”

Obviously it didn’t take Dean very long. The moment he climaxed set Cas off, too. They came together, clutching their arms and embracing tightly, tongues battling as gasps and groans filled the room. Then Dean collapsed. His chest was heaving. He was soaked in sweat. He hugged Cas tight and fell asleep before they could discuss what happened.

* * *

“Ahh…gah…”

Dean woke up feeling achy all over. They had shifted during the night and Cas was now laying on top of Dean’s chest. He was asleep.

“Hey…hey…Cas…”

He rattled the angel softly and he sprung awake.

“Oh! Dean?”

“Hey there.”

They kissed softly. Cas smiled. His face was flushed with red.

“Everything cool?” Dean asked.

“Am I devolving?”

“Why’d you say that?”

“Fornicating…”

“I don’t think so.”

“What is this…”

Cas sat up and put his hands over his chest. He closed his eyes and shrugged his shoulders.

“What are you doing?” Dean asked, chuckling slightly. Right then he realized it seemed weird to have a thirty-some looking man with a twenty three year-old. He tried not to think about it.

“A warm feeling inside me,” Cas said.

“When?”

“Now, just now. Ah…feel this…”

He took Dean’s hands and put them on his chest, but Dean felt nothing special. He told Cas this and the angel sighed.

“Very well,” he said. “I believe it’s time to continue our journey anyway.”

Cas got up and Dean followed suit. “Wait a second,” he said. “If something’s wrong, tell me, okay? Was everything we did last night all right with you?”

“Yes,” Cas said, nodding. He looked back at Dean and smiled. “It was wonderful.”

“Okay, good, just making sure.”

They dressed for the day and met Sam and Ruby out front. If they started driving right away, they would make it to Lawrence by sundown. Dean could live with that.

Halfway through when they made a pit stop, Sam and Dean went out to bring some late lunch while Ruby and Cas stayed in the car.

“Something’s different about you guys,” Ruby said. “What happened?”

“Does it matter?” Cas asked.

“Maybe it does. It’s positive, I think. What happened?”

Cas was silent. He smiled to himself.

“Hey!” Ruby laughed. “I see that! What makes an angel smile?”

“We’ve consummated our relationship.”

“ _Oooh_ ,” Ruby humed. She nodded slowly, then reached over the seat and patted Cas on the shoulder. “Thinking for yourself finally?”

“It’s Dean,” Cas said. “I can’t explain this feeling I have for him, but when we’re close and when we touch, my heart is warm…”

“Love,” said Ruby. “It sounds like love.”

“Love…”

Sam and Dean came back to the car with a couple bags of food. They were both laughing loudly. Ruby chuckled. “Those boys,” she said. “I’m glad they get along.”

“Here ya go,” Dean said, handing one of the bags back to Ruby. He ate quickly then kept driving while the two in the backseat took their time.

“So what do you think this next place is all about? Wearing dark robes and bringing Ruby along?”

“I have no idea,” Sam admitted. “Maybe we’ll know when we get there.”

Just as predicted, the team made it to 309 Tenning Street by nightfall. It was an old gas station, to their surprise.

On the way they had picked up “dark robes” for three people, leaving Sam in the car (since he was the brains of the operation and not so great on the field). Dean, Cas and Ruby walked around the vicinity with caution, checking all the doors for any kind of marks, but also keeping an eye on any demons that could be hanging out.

Around the back of the building, Dean spotted a stairwell that led to a single door. He motioned for the others to follow. When they approached it, there was a sigil of baphomet carved on the doorknob.

“This must be it,” Dean whispered. He raised his blade and put his hand on the knob.

“Careful,” said Ruby. “Knight of Hell things…”

The door opened and Dean stepped through. It was completely dark. Ruby followed and Cas was next, but Cas stopped at the threshold.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked.

“Angelwarding,” Cas said. He pointed to the floor but Dean couldn’t see through the dark. “I can’t come in.”

“Shit. Seriously?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Will I be okay?”

“Please try to,” Cas said in a sad voice.

“Keep an eye on Sam, in case anyone tries to mess with him.”

“Be safe, Dean.”

“We will.”

Dean and Ruby walked into the room and closed the door behind them. Dean didn’t feel too confident about this now.

There was a long hallway in front of them, marked by a red light at the end. Dean followed it slowly but Ruby went on with ease. She must have been able to see in the dark as well.

“I’m proud of you and Cas,” she whispered.

“What?”

“I’m proud of you.”

“Why?”

“Able to fall in love despite Heaven saying no.”

Dean didn’t answer. He was too embarrassed to admit his feelings, but he smiled in the darkness anyway.

They reached the end of the hallway and stood beneath the light, which was actually a torch that glowed blood red. There, it divided like a T. They paused for a moment and tried to listen for any signs of life. One direction sounded empty, however there was a soft clinking coming from the other. The two nodded at each other and walked off that way.

What followed was a series of doors. Dean opened the first and looked inside; it was a jail cell, stained with old blood and smelling terrible. The next six doors were the same, only one of them had a decomposing skeleton in it. Dean had seen some horrible things in the demon hideouts, but that was by far the worst. He covered his nose and closed the door.

They stood before the last cell. The clinking noise came from within.

“What if it’s that last Knight of Hell?” Dean asked in the smallest whisper he could muster.

“Then we’ll wish we had Cas, I guess.”

Ruby’s advice wasn’t very helpful. Either way, they had no choice. With the hood of his cloak covering his face, Dean opened up the door and peeked inside. There was a woman hanging from chains on the ceiling. She was covered in wounds, mostly old. Her head hung low as if asleep, but as soon as the door opened she looked up and stared at Dean with great fear.

“Please no,” her voice, frail and broken, whispered into the jail cell. “No more torture, please.”

“She’s not a demon,” Ruby whispered. “I’ll stand guard outside.”

Dean nodded and went into the cell. The woman would probably have reacted stronger, but her body was limp and broken.

“All I ask,” she said, gasping, “Is that you spare me this one time. Please.”

Dean wasn’t sure what to do with her. Who was she? Why did the direction tome want him to come see her?

Thinking quickly, he cleared his throat and asked, “What do you know about the prophecy?”

The woman stared at him oddly. Blood ran out of her nose. “The prophecy?” the repeated.

“Yes.”

She flinched as if Dean would strike her.

“How many times will your kind beat me for this information?” she cried. “You _must_ know by now.”

“Again,” said Dean. He realized that she thought he was a demon.

“ _The 23 rd son born unto the Winchester bloodline shall vanquish the world of all demons,” _she said.

Dean froze.

That was it? That was the prophecy?

“Wh-what do you know about the soul pact the angel Castiel made?” Dean asked, stuttering a bit. This woman was clearly important.

She gave a loud gasp and rattled the chains over her head.

“H-how do you know about the soul pact?”

“How do _you_ know about it? What is it?”

“Th-the soul pact was made to keep Dean Winchester, the 23rd son, safe. C-Castiel is a good angel. He cares of humans. He w-was willing to sacrifice his command in Heaven for Dean…”

Dean stepped closer to the woman now. His heart was racing.

“How do you know that?!” he asked in desperation.

“B-because I made the pact. Dean is my son.”

Dean felt his heart crumble to pieces. His body began to tremble. All at once, he wanted to heal, free, and keep this woman safe forever. Silent tears fell from his eyes.

“Wh-why are you staring like that?” she moaned. “Just _kill me_.”

“I can’t,” Dean said, his voice falling weak. “I…how…are you…are you Mary Winchester?”

“Of course I am!” she screamed now, even though her voice was rough. “Why do you even care?!”

Dean pulled back his hood now. His eyes were bloodshot and filled with tears.

“Because I’m your son.”

 


	15. Chapter 15

 

“D-Dean?”

All at once, the woman seemed to be lifted of her pain. The horrific torture she had no doubt endured was dwarfed by her delight to see her son. Her eyes softened. They twinkled.

“Yeah,” Dean said softly.

“ _Dean!!”_

Dean hugged his mother. He hugged her and never wanted to let go.

“I thought you were dead,” he said.

“No, far from it, but I wish…if only…”

“Mom, there’s so much I have to tell you. Let me get you down from here.”

“No!” she cried out in desperation. Dean paused.

“What?”

Mary trembled now.

“You can’t. It’s impossible.”

“What d’you mean?”

“They’ve hexed these chains, they can’t come down unless I’m dead.”

“What?!” Dean stared at her, breathing heavy. This couldn’t be true. There must have been a way around it. “But, but maybe Cas…”

“Castiel? The angel? This place is angelwarded. Understand this, Dean; the last Knight of Hell standing is a powerful one. She has this place rigged. You can’t fight it. I can’t leave.”

“But, mom…I’m here…now…I…”

Dean’s heart was breaking. He had dreamed of meeting his mother but always assumed it would never happen. But now here he was, face to face, but there was nothing he could do.

“Dean, listen,” Mary said, smoothing her voice out. “As a member of the high council in the Men of Letters, I know what I’m talking about. This is very important.

“We have spent decades researching the prophecy, knowing it was soon to pass. I chose John, your father, knowingly that I would likely have the 23rd son. I knew everything that followed that burden and I picked it anyway. I know my fate.

“But Dean, I’m sure you have questions and I have many answers. First I’ll tell you this—you must find Linda Tran. She is the last remaining member of the high council.”

“Y-yeah, and Bobby…”

“I’m sure Bobby was slaughtered by a demon and set it up to be a suicide.”

Dean was blown away. She actually knew _everything_.

“You have already finished the first movement, right?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Then it’s time for the second. I know what it is.”

“Wait, I have more questions.”

“Of course, of course,” Mary said. She took a deep breath. “The objects left with the demon killing knife are the relics of the Men of Letters. You need those, plus Linda Tran’s relic (it’s a brooch) to set the gates in Wyoming to close Hell. Linda has been doing very thorough research and she will tell you everything you need to know about the gates, the relics, the Knights of Hell and the prophecies.”

“Prophesies?” Dean asked. “I thought it was just one?”

“Oh, Dean…Dean, Dean…”

Mary looked at Dean with great sadness in her eyes. She began to weep.

“You’ve turned into a strong, handsome young man. It makes me happy…so happy…I hope this works out for you.”

“What? Mom? Tell me! What’s going on?”

“There is a second prophecy…”

“What is it?”

“ _The 24 th son born unto the Winchester blood line shall vanquish the world of all angels. He will be raised under a dark moon and fight the 23rd to seal the gates._”

“WHAT?!”

Dean held his breath. He balled his fists.

“The prophecy doesn’t declare who wins!” Mary whined pathetically. “Most of the demons never understood! They thought you would be born and eventually kill them all. Only a few of them knew the truth—knew that your final duel would determine which gate would close. The duel between you and your brother.”

“I have a _brother?_ ”

“Oh, Dean, it was horrible,” Mary sobbed. She cried loudly. “I was pregnant when I gave you up to Castiel and the demons brought me here. I had your brother in this very cell. Then they took him…they took him, Dean… _he will be raised under a dark moon_. Your brother is evil! He’s no doubt found the angel tablet and plans to kill you in order to seal the gates of Heaven!”

“But where’s this brother? I’ve never heard of another Winchester, and Cas-Castiel said he would know if the angel tablet was being worked.”

“The second movement!” Mary suddenly shrieked.

“What?”

“The second movement! The merciful full breast cloven in two!”

“Mom, what are you talking about? Who is my brother?!”

Dean grabbed Mary by the shoulders and shook her. She had clearly lost some of her mind while being held in the cell for so long.

“I cannot be broken from these chains, I cannot help you…find Linda Tran…and, and you must kill me.”

“What?”

“The merciful breast! The merciful breast is mine, Dean.”

Dean stared. He swallowed stiffly.

“You’re doing me a kindness,” Mary said, calming down a bit. “The Knight of Hell has given me an immortality tonic. Only at the hand of your blade can I die, or else I will remain here in this state forever.”

Dean cried again and nearly collapsed. This wasn’t fair. He finally found his mother, whom he presumed dead, and now he had to kill her. Why was life so cruel to him?

“It’s alright, Dean,” Mary coaxed. “I understand. It all makes sense. The third movement? I understand it as well. It was also foretold what would happen between Castiel and you.”

Dean’s cries were interrupted by embarrassment.

“What?”

“It’s fine, I understand. Free will…free will is important. You’ll learn that soon enough. But better than free will is **love**. If you love this world, you will do what you must.”

Now Mary cried hard, too. Tears ran down her dirty face and they stared at each other while weeping.

“Promise me you will do _whatever you must, no matter the cost_ , to seal the gates of Hell.”

Dean hugged Mary again. Obviously he knew what he was coming. He put his hands over her head and stroked her frazzled blonde hair. He kissed her forehead.

“I promise,” he whispered.

“Then kill me.”

He held the blade firmly in his hand. He touched it to her chest. One more kiss to the forehead and he said, “I love you, mom.”

“I love you too, Dean. More than you’ll ever know.”

He was trembling. All of those demons killed and he began to overlook it, but now he had to kill a human, an actual human who was also his mother.

“Dean…”

“I-I’m going to.”

“Make it quick, it’s better.”

With a deep breath, he shoved the knife into her chest. Tears choked out of him. He hugged her body as she faded away.

“Your brother,” she gasped, “His name is Sam. Sam Winchester.”

He watched her fade away, tears still falling. The blade was pulled out and her fresh blood ran to the ground. A sharp pain stung his arm, but he did everything he could to suppress it. He knew that it was the next movement being completed. Mary was right…

“Sam Winchester,” Dean mumbled, even though Mary was gone. A different fire was brewing in his chest.

The chains that held Mary up gave way and her dead body collapsed to the floor. How ironic. He dropped his blade and caught Mary in his arms. She immediately bled out all over him, but he didn’t care. He scooped his knife up, put it away in his belt then carried Mary’s corpse out of the room, seething.

“Dean, I heard what—“

“NOT. NOW.”

Ruby had been waiting out front but Dean had no patience for her. She followed as he left, but he kept staring straight forward with hatred in his tear-filled eyes. Mary flopped over in his arms.

They went all the way back out, left the basement and rounded to where the Impala was parked. Cas immediately walked up to Dean.

“Mary!” he shouted. “Dean, what happened?!”

“Did you know about the 24th man?!” Dean growled.

“What? No. What happened to Mary?”

Sam got out of the car after seeing Dean return with the body. His face was white.

“Who is that?! What happened?! Dean…?!”

Dean shot a furious glare at Sam.

“What’s your last name?!” he hissed.

“Um. Winchester. Why? Dean, what’s going on?”

“YOU’RE MY FUCKING BROTHER, THAT’S WHAT’S GOING ON!!!”

“… _what?_ ”

“DON’T PLAY DUMB! _YOU_ KNOW WHO YOU ARE!” Dean turned to Cas. “HE’S A TRAITOR! HE’S BEEN LYING TO US! THIS MOTHERFUCKER IS GOING TO KILL ME AND CLOSE THE GATES TO HEAVEN!!”

“Wait, Dean, calm down!” Sam insisted. He walked closer to Dean but was shown great hostility.

“I know what you’re up to!” Dean growled. He quickly turned around glared at Ruby. “You lying _bitch!”_

Sam stared at Ruby in utter confusion, taking slow steps towards her.

“Ruby? What’s he talking about?”

Ruby just stood there and slowly raised her hand to her mouth. Her eyes closed and she cried quietly.

“Ruby?!”

Sam put his arms around her.

“Ruby, what’s happening?”

Dean was still clinging to Mary’s body and glaring at them with fire in his eyes. His upper lipped twitched and he said, “Liars.”

“S-Sam,” Ruby began, “It’s t-true. You _are_ brothers.”

Cas had no idea. His mouth was open as he looked back and forth between Ruby and Dean.

“I don’t understand,” said Sam. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

All of the sudden, Ruby reached into the front of her shirt and pulled out a small vial on a necklace. A warm, red flame glowed within. She popped it off of the rope and held it out to Dean.

“I’ll do this for you!” she yelled. Dean didn’t know what that was. “So you know that I’m not playing any fucking games!”

She threw the vial to the ground and it shattered, sending a red vapor high into the air. Cas watched it, mouth still open. “Breaking the soul pact,” he whispered.

“What?” Dean asked Cas.

“She’s breaking her soul pact.”

Ruby fell into Sam’s arms and began to cry, though the tall young man’s gaze was stuck on the broken bottle.

“I made a soul pact to keep you safe from the other demons,” she confessed. “I couldn’t talk about it as long as it was active. Oh, Sam, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t. I was sworn.”

“It’s okay,” Sam cooed. He petted her head. “I understand.”

“They said that the 24th son born to the Winchesters would be raised by demons and ultimately close the gates to Heaven! You would kill your brother in order to do so, and…and I knew I couldn’t let that happen…”

“Ruby…”

The woman looked at Dean now. Her eyes were red from crying.

“I did all of this to save Sam from his horrible fate. I chose free will so Sam could, too. I did this so _your_ fate was sealed. So _your people_ would be saved.”

Dean wasn’t buying it.

“I don’t care,” he said. “I don’t care about your soul pact or your free will. The prophecies say that me and my brother are gonna fight to the death, and if that’s true then I know what he’s gonna do eventually. And it ain’t gonna happen, I tell you that.”

Ruby cried more. Even Sam began to tear up.

“But you’re my brother,” he sighed. “I was with you this whole time and never knew it…”

“I don’t care!” Dean yelled again. “What good is family if they just kill you in the end?! Get out of my face! I’m gonna finish these fucking trials and beat you to the gates. Come on, Cas. We’ll find _my_ mother a suitable grave.”

“Yes…”

They put the body into Dean’s trunk and drove off loudly, leaving Sam and Ruby alone in the empty parking lot. Ruby hugged him tight.

“He had been such a good man,” she said. “Why did he have to overreact?”

“No, I don’t blame him,” said Sam. “These prophecies are real. He’s in the right mind to think that way. I can’t convince him that I won’t try to kill him. In fact, how do I know I won’t? Maybe things will change.”

“But you want the gates of Hell, not Heaven, closed for good, don’t you?”

Ruby looked up at Sam pathetically.

“I do,” he whispered. “Of course.”

“Then…free will?”

“Then free will.”

Sam gave Ruby a kiss, but it was interrupted by strong footsteps through the gravel. The couple turned around and saw a woman in a leather jacket and a tangled bun of red hair high on her head. She had gaudy lipstick and dark black wings of eyeliner.

“There’s my boy,” she said with a nasty smirk. Ruby cowered in fear behind the man. “Come back to mama, Sammy. Come back to the Knights.”


	16. Something Old

 

“I can’t believe it.”

Dean, who had now worked himself up into all sorts of frenzies, gripped the steering wheel tightly as he drove in search of a secure plot of land. Cas put his hand on Dean’s shoulder.

“Does this help?” he asked.

“Kinda. Thanks. It’s just hard to handle.”

“I understand. This was a terrible upset. I wish there was a way I could change reality, but I can’t.”

“It’s okay, Cas. You don’t need to take responsibility for any of this. You’re doing the best you can and I appreciate that. At least we have each other.”

“Yes.”

When they stopped at a light, Dean leaned over the seat and kissed Cas softly on the lips. Cas blushed.

“Is that better?” the angel asked timidly.

“Yeah, I think so.”

Soon, they found a clearing between some trees. It was far from civilization and looked untouched; just a peaceful area where nature thrived. Dean backed up into it. He had never been so thankful for carrying a shovel.

“Okay, mom…”

He dug a large hole, with some assistance from Cas, then dropped his mother’s corpse into it with a disheartening _thud_.

“I figured the least I could give her was a final place to rot that isn’t in a torture chamber.”

“That’s a very noble gesture,” said Cas. He waved his hand repetitively and the dug up dirt began to fill the hole. Dean tossed some with the shovel, too. He was sniffling.

“Everyone’s dying,” he said. “Mostly ‘cause of me. Now it looks like I’ll have to kill my brother, too.”

“Do you find it plausible that Ruby is telling the truth?” asked Cas. Dean just sighed.

“I don’t even know at this point. I wanna say yes, because she _was_ helpful. But right now, we just can’t take those risks.”

“I understand.”

“We gotta find this Linda Tran woman. I think all this crap will make sense when she explains it. At least, that’s what my mom said…mom…”

The hole was covered now. He stood there alongside Cas and stared at it, wishing he could leave a headstone or something to mark her memory.

“So you knew her,” Dean muttered. Cas made a small nod. “What was she like?”

“Intelligent. Passionate. Very dedicated. She showed bravery in times where most humans would not.”

Dean wiped his eyes on his sleeve and went back to the car. There was nothing more to say, now. He had completed the second movement and fulfilled that line of his destiny. Mary knew what would happen and he tried to focus on that. He told himself that he was saving her, and when he looked at it that way, it wasn’t too bad.

The rage of being betrayed by Ruby and his own brother was coursing through Dean’s veins. It gave him the uncanny ability to press on despite the horrors he had faced that day. As they searched for an internet café for hunting down Linda Tran, Dean didn’t want to eat or rest. He was focused on the task ahead.

“Okay, let’s see…”

Dean was by no means a tech savvy guy. Most technology had passed him by since there was no need for it. While the internet was booming, Dean had been working on old cars and slaying demons. Cas was no help either, of course.

“Errr…I guess…”

He sat in front of a chunky monitor and stared at the search engine on its screen.

“I guess I’ll just…”

 _Where is Linda Tran_ , he typed, then clicked enter with a steady hand on the mouse. Suddenly a bunch of search results popped up. “We found Linda Tran!” and all that good stuff. Dean clicked on the first one, which was a phonebook site and made the most sense. According to the info on the page, there were many Linda Tran’s in the US.

“Great.”

It only listed name and phone number, so Dean would just have to start from the top and work his way down. The clerk at the front desk helped him use the printer, then with a sheet of Linda Trans, they were back on their way. People always looked at Cas funny when they were out in public.

Dean went to a payphone and popped a coin in. Holding the first page, he dialed out a number.

“Hello?” a woman answered.

“Uh, hi. Is this Linda Tran?”

“Yes. Who this?”

“I’m a uh, friend of Mary’s. Mary Winchester.”

“ _Who?”_

“John Winchester?”

“I think you have wrong number. You call wrong Tran household.”

“Oh. S-sorry.”

Dean held the receiver and looked at Cas embarrassedly. The angel titled his head.

“Not her, I guess,” Dean muttered. He dialed the next one.

“H-hello?”

A young man answered, as far as Dean could tell.

“Er. Can I speak with Linda Tran?”

“Oh. Um. She can’t come to the phone. May I ask who’s calling?”

“I’m a friend of Mary Winchester’s.”

“…what?”

“Mary Winchester? John Winchester’s wife?”

The other end went quiet.

“I guess I have the wrong number again,” Dean said. He went to hit the receiver again, but the guy on the phone said, “No!”

“Huh?”

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I just need to talk with Linda Tran.”

“Sh-she can’t come because, um, well, she isn’t alive anymore.”

Dean’s nostrils flared. More bad luck.

“Oh…”

“B-but, why do you need to talk to her?”

“It’s important stuff.”

“Men of Letters business?”

Dean narrowed his eyes. He leaned closer into the phone booth and spoke quietly. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Linda Tran’s son, Kevin. I guess you’re also in the Men of Letters?”

“Unofficially.” Dean cleared his throat. “I’m the 23rd man.”

Kevin gasped audibly. “The 23rd man?!” he exclaimed, sounding a little like a giddy teenage girl.

“Yeah…you’ve heard of me?”

“We need to talk! How far are you from Lebanon?”

“ _Israel?_ Real far, dude.”

“No, no. Kansas. Lebanon, Kansas.”

Dean was given an address and instructed to come as soon as possible. He got Cas back in the car and high tailed it.

“If Linda passed all of her knowledge down to Kevin,” Cas noted, “Then he is likely the last official member of the Men of Letters.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. He’ll be the guy to set everything straight, I’d say.”

What he expected to be a house or some other normal form of living space turned out to be a large, unwieldy building in the middle of a forest. Dean drove around the gravel pathway that went to a small front door and parked the car. He looked at Cas uneasily and got out. They walked to the door and knocked. In a few moments time, a young Asian man answered the door. He was probably around eighteen.

“23rd man?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s me. Dean’s my name.”

“Hi. I’m Kevin.”

Kevin put his hand out and Dean shook it. His fingers were cold.

“And this is Cas, he’s my—“

“Angel,” Kevin interrupted. “I know. Nice to meet you, Cas.”

“Thank you,” said Cas. He was _still_ lacking in the introduction department.

“Come in. I’ll show you my place.”

They followed Kevin down a long corridor which opened up into a huge foyer. There was a great big library with a bunch of long tables. Papers and books were strewn everywhere.

“This is the last great center for the Men of Letters,” he said. “It was my mom’s home and now it’s mine.”

“So you really are the final member,” Dean said quietly.

“Yeah,” Kevin agreed. He shot a nervous smile at Dean. “I’ve been working through all these prophecies, all this information…I figured the 23rd man would find me eventually, so I’m ready to help.”

“Great. Awesome. Thanks, Kevin.”

“You two are welcome to stay here as long as you’d like. There are plenty of guest rooms. You can even live here, it’s no problem.”

“Wow, thanks again. That’s real generous of you.”

“It’s the code for the Men of Letters; ‘For those with trust unproven, tread carefully. For those with trust proven true, hold them sacred.’”

“Well how about that?” Dean said, smiling at Cas. “Our trust is proven true!”

“Sure it is,” said Kevin. “And with good reason, too.”

From one of the hallways, a woman came out. She wore a green jacket that complimented her long, red hair. Her big eyes were wide and a goofy yet pretty smile grew on her face when she saw Dean and Cas. Dean stared.

“Anna!”

* * *

“What a shame, what a shame. Ruby, you really have done a number on the boy.”

“I did what I had to do!” Ruby cried at the menacing stranger.

“Tsk tsk tsk,” the woman said. She folded her arms and walked towards Sam slowly. The man stood his ground.

“I don’t know who you are,” said Sam.

“Ugh, horrible!” the woman bellowed. “How can you forget the woman who raised you?”

“A-are you saying that you’re my mother? Because according to Dean, he just—“

“No, I’m not your stupid mother!” the woman hissed. “Your mother was a freak and a martyr! _I_ was following our prediction and doing everything to make a brilliant new world for us. That is, until Ruby came in and fucked it all up.”

“I chose free will!” Ruby yelled. “And I’d do it again!”

“Ohh, even without that stupid little soul pact you’re still defending your man? That’s cute, very cute. But here’s the problem—he was raised by me, and though it was only a few early years, the desire to go dark side is still there. I can see it in his eyes.”

Sam glared at her.

“I don’t want to,” he insisted. “I never will. Ruby’s right; we chose free will and we always will. I don’t need a prophecy telling me what to do.”

“Oh? Is that way you wondered if you’d change your mind later? Hmm?”

The woman began to walk in circles around them now. Ruby held onto Sam tighter.

“Why you said, ‘maybe I will try to kill Dean, maybe I should leave him alone?’”

“I was just thinking aloud,” Sam said quickly. “I mean, I should consider every option, right?”

“Oooh, I like the way you think. Yeah. Yeaaah. Consider every option. So what option do you want?”

Sam clenched his jaw.

“Free will,” he said.

Suddenly the woman reached out and slapped him across the face. “Idiot!” she yelled. Ruby jumped at the woman.

“Don’t you lay a damn hand on him!” she screamed, battering the redhead.

“You’re an even bigger idiot!” the woman rebutted. She grabbed Ruby by the hair and began punching her over and over.

“Stop!” Sam yelled. He joined in now, attempting to grab Ruby away, but the mysterious woman was far too strong. She kicked Sam and he went flying, then she held Ruby in a chokehold.

“You’ll come around, sooner or later. The Knights of Hell have blood in your veins. There’s no resisting.”

She held her free hand up, snapped her fingers and in a flash of hot red fire, the two disappeared. Sam ran over to the ground where they stood.

“Ruby? Ruby?!”

He fell to his knees and desperately clawed at the pavement. It was no use. Some ash remained but nothing more. He needed answers and he needed answers fast.


	17. Something New

 “I am happy to see you,” said Anna. She greeted Dean and Cas with a warm smile, then hugged them both.

“As am I,” said Cas.

“Never thought we’d cross paths again,” Dean told her, hugging back. “How’d you get here?”

“I heard Kevin praying for assistance and I chose to come. It wasn’t easy, though. I had originally returned to Heaven in a drunken stupor. You might imagine how difficult that was. I was and am still greatly shunned.”

“Oh, yeah,” Dean said, “Tell me about it. We know a thing or two about doing shit Heaven doesn’t like.”

He looked at Cas and smiled, but Anna didn’t understand. He took the male angel’s hand.

“We’re a couple now,” he said.

“Ahh…I had a feeling such would happen.”

Cas blushed sheepishly. He continued to hold Dean’s hand securely.

“But anyway, we have a lot of work to do,” said Dean.

“Let’s talk about it,” Kevin finally chimed in. He had been standing in the background but now he took center stage. “Can I get you anything? Food or drink?”

“I’m okay for now, thanks,” said Dean.

“Alright, we’ll I’m going to make some tea anyway, then we can talk at the big table there.”

Kevin went to the kitchen and prepared a pot, which he brought into the study on a tray and with four small cups. They all sat down and Kevin poured two. He passed one to Anna, he began drinking quietly. Cas stared at her.

“Anna,” he began, “Why are you drinking that?”

“It’s pleasurable,” she replied, giving Cas a goofy smile. “Try it.”

Dean decided he would have a cup for good sportsmanship, and Cas said he would, too. So Kevin gave everyone a cup of tea. Dean drank it slowly.

“Well I prefer coffee,” he said, “But this ain’t too bad.”

“I can brew some coffee if you’d prefer,” said Kevin. He went to get up but Dean stopped him.

“No, no,” he said. “It’s fine, really. Let’s skip that and talk turkey.”

“Right. Okay.”

Kevin cleared his throat. Anna poured herself a second cup of tea and kept drinking while Cas still stared at his, untouched, with a quizzical face.

“Which movements have you finished?” Kevin asked Dean.

“One a two,” he replied.

“Are you sure?”

Dean suddenly pulled up his sleeve and showed Kevin the two, glowing blue marks on his forearm. He looked impressed.

“Nice,” the Asian boy said with a nod.

“I had to kill my own mother,” Dean grumped. “I’m not sure how ‘nice’ that was.”

“It’s good though,” Kevin said, “Because we have a major lead on the 24th man. For now, at least. If we can figure out that last trial and get to Wyoming before he does, we might be able to pull it off.”

Dean nursed his tea with a tight sigh. By now he was completely worn out. Too much driving, too much killing and too many surprises.

“You think Sam’s got the angel tablet?” he asked quietly.

“Is Sam your brother?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s impossible to tell. My best research has shown that Abaddon, the last Knight of Hell on Earth, possesses the angel tablet. Not sure how she got a hold of it, but that’s what the most recent writings have said.”

“What do you know about the Knights of Hell?” Castiel asked. The tea was still untouched, but Anna was on a third cup now.

“So,” Kevin began, clearly showing signs of being alone far too long, “The Men of Letters was made by a group of angels in order to keep peace on Earth, but when the demons found out, they made their own _club_ , if you will, to specialize in the destruction of humanity. They had been keeping tabs on the reincarnated souls and noticed a spike in those that were making great strides in spirituality.”

“Reincarnated souls?” Dean asked.

“Yeah, you know, when you die and go to Heaven, you pick a new life and come back. Depending on how you did, your choices vary.”

Dean tightened his jaw.

“How am I doing?” he asked, directed and both Cas and Kevin.

“To be honest,” said Kevin, “I have no idea. I’m not an expert on this sort of thing.”

“I’m not sure either,” Cas admitted in a damaged whisper. He put his hand on the small teacup and held it there now.

“Um, but anyway,” Kevin continued, “The Knights of Hell found out about the tablets and they put together their five relics and blah blah blah, then worked on that second part of the prophecy. Your brother is bad news, Dean.”

“And he seemed _so nice_ ,” Dean sighed. “It just goes to show you.”

“’For those with trust unproven,’” Kevin reminded them.

“Right, right. But at what point is trust proven?”

“Not being raised by demons to kill his brother in order to stop human souls from entering Heaven is a start.”

“Yeah…”

The atmosphere in the room was quickly dwindling. Kevin looked nervous and Dean had become utterly morose. Cas, however, finally picked up the teacup and took a sip. To his delight, it tasted wonderful. He smiled uncontrollably and had another sip. Anna noticed.

“It’s good, isn’t it?” she asked.

“I am impressed,” said Cas. He finished the cup and poured another.

“So what d’you make of the third movement?” Dean asked Kevin, completely ignoring Cas for once.

Kevin immediately consulted a stack of loose paper that was off to the side. He shifted through a few until he found the sheet he was looking for. “Here,” he said, pushing it to Dean’s side.

_As the sacred heart is freed—_

_Sacred heart, the most sacred heart of Jesus. Church in Wichita called the Sacred Heart of Jesus has a famous stained glass formation, famous for claiming a real piece of Jesus’ heart rests within the glass._

“Sick,” said Dean. “Why would anybody put a piece of dude into glass?”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Kevin. “This is what I think it’s talking about. You need to shatter that glass and let the heart go.”

“Well, alright then. At least it’s close. Guess we head to Wichita ASAP.”

“You must be tired, Dean,” Cas interjected.

“I am, but you heard what Kevin said; we gotta stay one step ahead of Sam.”

Kevin butted into the conversation.

“I think one night of sleep won’t hurt. And, Dean, I barely know you but I can tell how exhausted you are. You’ll want your full strength to go free the sacred heart.”

“Fine. Okay.”

Reluctantly, Dean got up from the tablet and followed Kevin to one of the spare bedrooms. It was fully furnished and the bed looked lovely. Dean realized how much he needed sleep once he saw it.

“Bathroom down the hall,” said Kevin. “Good night, Dean.”

“Night, Kevin.”

Cas joined him in the bedroom and closed the door. They undressed completely and with no shame then got in bed. Cas immediately cuddled into Dean’s arms. “I’m worried,” he said.

“Yeah, me, too. What’s bugging you the most?”

“Sam. And Ruby.”

Cas nestled his face into the crook of Dean’s neck, closing his eyes. He took a slow, tired breath and grunted lightly. Dean held him close. He ran his fingers along Cas’ back muscles.

“I’m so tired of this,” Dean admitted. “How much longer is my life gonna have this fucking pattern?”

“It’s impossible to know for sure, but I would assume once the gates are closed you will find normalcy.”

“What’ll happen to you?”

“I intend to follow my soul pact.”

Dean looked down at Cas.

“But is that what you want?”

“Of course it is.”

They said nothing more. Dean pressed his lips against Cas’ hair and found himself falling asleep right away.

* * *

Ruby regained consciousness slowly. She was in great amounts of pain, particularly around the waist, and something was jutting into her back. As she opened her eyes, she could see the back of the abandoned gas station, standing there like a death omen. She tried to move her arms, but quickly realized they were bound. She was tied to a tree.

“ _Saaam_ …”

Her voice was far too weak to speak. She hung her head and coughed a bit of blood. Everything hurt.

“Oh, good morning!”

The Knight of Hell was suddenly standing before her, grinning ear to ear in her bright lipstick. She touched Ruby’s face with a finger and made a pseudo-sympathetic face.

“Are we in paaain?”

“ _Ah…Saa…Sam…_ ”

“Sorry, no boy wonder to save you now. And even if, it doesn’t matter. He’ll be going back to the way things should be in no time.”

“ _Ha…how…_ ”

“Ugh,” the Knight grumbled. “This is irritating. I’ll never get a word out of you. How? Did you ask HOW?”

“ _Y-yes…_ ”

Ruby closed her eyes through the searing pain in her body. There must have been metal hooks or so drilled into the tree, since the pain shooting into her back seemed to be from that.

“Because it’s in Sam’s nature,” the Knight explained. “He has demon blood pumping in his veins. He’s destined to be a Knight of Hell. Great things in store for him, that’s for sure. D’you realize what happens once he closes the gates of Heaven?”

Ruby shook her head.

“ _I don’t…I don’t need to know…I ne-never bothered to find out…he…he’ll never go that way…_ ”

“We’ll see about that.”

The Knight opened her leather jacket up and displayed an old, clay tablet. Ruby saw it in her blurred vision and nearly threw up.

“That’s right,” the redhead said, so full of herself that she nearly burst, “Read it and weep. All these years trying to get ickle Sammykins to be good—down the drain!”

“ _N-no…Abaddon…don’t…_ ”

“What’s that? I can’t here you. I’m too busy admiring the five relics of the Knights.”

Abaddon held the tablet in one arm, then opened the other side of her jacket and took out a handful of items from the inner pocket. There was a long tooth, a blood red garnet faceted into ring, a small knife, a dried up piece of something that had likely once belonged to a human and a horn from a young bull. Ruby saw them in Abaddon’s hand and yelped out in pain.

“ _N-nooooo…_ ” she moaned weakly.

“Oh yeeees,” Abaddon said in response. She went right up into Ruby’s face and let her voice fall soft. “I’ll get Sam to come home to the teat he once suckled. And I mean mine, not yours. I nursed him as a mother, not a filthy _lover!_ ”

She struck Ruby across the face. At this point, the lesser demon was so close to giving up hope that she hardly registered physical pain.

“Sam will complete the movements,” Abaddon said, “And then he will set the relics and kill his brother in the name of our lord. Speaking of, once those pearly gates are closed, Hell gets to open wide and a free for all begins! Of course, they’ll come and kill you first. If there are any other demons fornicating with men then they’ll be killed, too. Y’know. Rules.

“Oh, but it will be sweet, won’t it? Castiel gets to die, too. No going home after home is closed for business. And best of all, _Lucifer walks free_.”

Ruby’s eyes opened wide. She stared at Abaddon, fear rippling through her body.

“ _L-Lucifer walks free?_ ” she gasped.

“Yeah, definitely. You think he’d miss the party? ‘Course not. You know how daddy is.”

Ruby shook her head.

“NO!” She yelled, her voice finally coming back. A new wave of power was bubbling up. “NO! YOU’LL NEVER GET SAM TO CHANGE!”

“Yes I will,” Abaddon said. “I think you’re forgetting how much power I have, you little toad. Now stay here and rest while I go get your boy toy. Mmm…won’t it be sweet to take his reigns again? I’m looking forward to it.”

She snapped her fingers and disappeared in a burst of flames, leaving Ruby tied to the tree and still in immense pain. She rolled her head back against the trunk and sobbed loudly. What could she possibly do now?


	18. Something Borrowed

Sam was wandering. His feet ached from walking many miles and his stomach was empty. He had gone to find food or possibly shelter, but he realized that their money had been left with Ruby. There was no place he could go and nothing he could do. Ruby was dead, he thought, and Dean would soon make sure he met the same fate.

As he dragged himself down an open, empty highway, his body finally gave out and he collapsed onto the ground.

He may have been out of it for a while, but when he came to, the last voice he wanted to hear was talking to him.

“Sam, Sam, Saa-aam…”

Sam managed to look up and saw Abaddon staring down at him, looking delighted as if it were Christmas morning.

“Are you tired?”

“Y-yeah…”

“Hungry?”

“Pretty, yes…”

“Come here.”

Abaddon reached down and grabbed Sam’s hands. She pulled him up and helped him stand, dusting some of the gravel off his chest.

“Relax for a second,” she instructed as she took his hand then snapped her fingers.

In a flash, they were consumed by flames and reappeared in a town that Sam didn’t recognize. They stood in front of a nice looking restaurant. Abaddon put a hand on Sam’s chest and he was instantly clean.

“There, isn’t that better?” She asked.

“Why are you helping me?”

“Oh, Sam, you’re such an idiot,” Abaddon said with a smile. “Come here. Let’s get you something to eat.”

Still in a daze and compelled by his overwhelming hunger, Sam followed Abaddon into the restaurant. He acted almost as if he were under the influence of a drug, although it was nothing more than extreme tiredness.

“Anything you want,” said Abaddon, handing Sam a menu. He ordered a chef’s salad and Abaddon rolled her eyes.

As he helped himself to bread and water, he once more asked why she was helping him.

“Because I’m the one who truly raised you, Sam,” Abaddon said in a pathetic voice. “Ruby came in and robbed you from me, but I was the first mama you had. You drank milk from my breast.”

Sam’s stomach churned. Suddenly he wasn’t as hungry.

“What? I have perky tits, you should be happy.”

Again, his stomach did somersaults.

“Let’s not worry about that right now,” Abaddon said. “Let’s focus on there here and now. Here,” she pulled the tablet from her jacket, “I have this. And _now_ ,” she added the relics, “You’re going to do what you have to.”

Sam shook his head.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

Abaddon grew angry for a moment. She put a fuchsia nail to her mouth and tried to cool down.

“Ohhh, Sammy,” she growled, “You are so fortunate that you’re too special for me to be hard on. No tough love for you, not yet.”

* * *

Dean’s black Impala pulled up in front of a large, beautiful building. It was evening by the time they arrived in Wichita. The sun behind the building’s tall bell tower cast a giant shadow that covered the car. Dean and Cas got out and silently walked inside, passing a pretty sign that read, “The Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

The church was empty. Masses were over for the day and everyone had cleared out. It surprised Dean that the doors were still open.

As they walked down the aisle between the pews, it was impossible to miss the giant stained glass circle that watched over the altar. It was a circle, well over ten feet across that depicted Jesus Christ with one hand up. In the center of his chest was the shape of a heart. Dean looked to Cas when he saw it, but Cas was apparently zoning out.

“Cas,” he whispered. “ _Cas_.”

“I stand in a house of the Lord,” Cas replied. He stared at the stained glass Jesus.

“Yeah, that’s fine and all, but we need to get up there. Any ideas?”

The angel didn’t reply. Instead, his eyes glazed over at he acted a bit bashful. Dean didn’t have time for that. He went between two rows of pews and tried to get up to the second level. The whole room was open, but running around the sides was a walkway. Dean took stairs in the corner up to it and looked around. He was still too far from the stained glass. How on Earth would he get there? Gazing down he saw Castiel standing like a moron and watching the glass. Cas had wings, right?

“May I help you?”

An older man’s voice made Dean jump. He turned around and saw a priest, at least three times his age, standing with his hands folded together behind his back. He smiled.

“Service is over for today,” he said.

“Uh, right,” Dean muttered. “I was just looking at this errrr stained glass guy on the wall.”

“The Sacred Heart? Wonderful piece, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

How was he going to get this dude to leave? Dean felt his chances at closing the gates of Hell slipping away as the priest rattled on. Maybe there was a chance that he would understand Dean’s mission. Catholics, after all…

“I assume you’ve come in light of the folklore, hmm?” the priest asked. Dean tried to swallow a lump in his throat.

“F-folklore?”

“The myth of the heart in the glass.”

“Myth?”

The priest chuckled.

“Oh, come now, don’t tell me you’re one of those people who actually believe it?”

Dean could have screamed. Kevin was the last Man of Letters! He was the mastermind behind all of the research! Did he really just fuck Dean up so badly?

“Uhh. No. ‘Course not. I just heard about it…”

“It’s a lovely sentiment,” said the priest, “However I find it impractical.”

“Right.”

“Either way, beautiful work.”

“ _Right_.”

Dean began to walk back towards the stairs. He quickly peeked over the railing and saw Cas standing in the aisles even still. The priest was now muttering about the person who designed the glass Jesus, and Dean took that as the perfect cue. He slipped down the stairs and caught up with Cas.

“It’s not true,” he said. “Let’s go back to the bunker.”

“Oh…”

Cas snapped out of his daze and followed Dean out. The priest leaned over the railing from above and gasped when he saw them both. He stared for a moment then followed after them quickly.

“Wait!” he called out. It echoed heavily throughout the church. Dean froze.

“Huh?”

“What business do you have here, truly?” the priest asked. Cas fixed his eyes upon him and he lowered his head, embarrassed.

“ _Why?_ ” Dean asked rather defensively.

The priest looked to Cas oddly. The angel appeared to be feeling ashamed.

“You are no doubt an angel of the Lord,” he said.

Dean held his breath. His jaw tightened. A few words tried to sound but ultimately failed. The priest, however, remained calm and smiled.

“What brings a mere mortal to befriend such a magnificent messenger of the Lord?” he asked Dean.

“Uhh…it’s…it’s sort of complicated.”

“And you, angel,” the priest said, turning back to Cas. “Why do you hang your head in shame?”

“I have wronged our Lord,” Cas confessed. “I have disobeyed the Heavenly rules.”

“How, dear angel?”

“I am working hard to protect this man here. I have become close to him. Many things have happened under my own choices and not God’s.”

“Oh, I understand,” the priest said, nodding. “But don’t you suppose that an all-knowing, all-loving God would want his children, both human and angel, to be happy?”

“But as what cost?” Cas asked.

“Choosing your destiny is not a sin, angel. Whoever has taught you this, they are gravely in the wrong. Tell me, has God himself spoken to you?”

“No.”

“Why do you think that is so?”

“I am under the assumption that God has no voice,” said Cas. “God is merely a force which keeps the universe going.”

The priest nodded.

“I’m in to place to preach to an angel,” he said with a light chuckle. “In fact, it is I who should be learning from you. Remember, angel, neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor…nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God.”

Cas smiled at the priest weakly.

“We all choose our own fate,” the man continued, “You are not betraying the Lord. Perhaps you have gone against the word of fellow angels or something similar, but as far as I can tell, you should wear your halo with dignity.”

“Thank you.”

“Now answer me this, please,” the priest began, smiling bigger, “What business do you have here?”

“Not sure I wanna get into it,” Dean said finally. He was feeling terribly awkward this whole time.

“Very well. I wish you two the best of luck.”

They said their goodbyes and went on their way. The sun was nearly down now, setting quickly over the land. After they left the church, Dean shuddered.

“Freaky dude,” he said.

“How so?”

“He knew you were an angel. He said some pretty heavy shit.”

“He is a man of the Lord. It’s no surprise.”

“But how’d he know?”

“Trained eyes can see my wings and halo.”

They went around the Impala and got inside. Dean slammed his door shut and stared out the window for a moment.

“Right,” he said, concentrating hard, “You have wings and a halo.”

“I do. All angels have them.”

Dean slowly turned to Cas and wet his lips.

“How come uh, how come _I_ can’t see them? I mean, Anna _showed_ hers to me once and I don’t think I did anything special.”

“We can display them if we so choose.”

Dean cleared his throat.

“Can I see ‘em?”

“I suppose.”

Cas closed his eyes momentarily and he began to glow light blue. The car filled with a delightful warmth. From Cas’ back there came two big, fluffy white wings. They couldn’t unfold very well in the car, but he leaned forward and tried to stretch them as best as he could. Dean was enamored with them.

“Caaaaaas,” he said as he practically drooled. “They’re sooooo pretty.”

“Thank you,” Cas mumbled, blushing.

The glow faded but his wings remained. Some of the feathers parted a bit as they stretched out.

“C-can I touch them?” Dean almost hesitated to ask.

“Of course.”

He put his hand out slowly and reached for the wing closest to him. As his fingers delicately petted the feathers, Dean couldn’t help but smile. Even though they were soft, fluffy, and smooth to the touch, Dean could tell that they were very strong. It would be impossible to damage them, he figured. He grabbed at them harder and Cas let out a moan.

“Hey!” Dean chuckled. “Does that feel good?”

Cas looked at Dean through narrow eyes, his face flushed with red. “ _Yes_ ,” he whispered.

Dean grinned and rubbed at the wing more. He pulled himself onto the seat better and touched the feathers with both hands. They rubbed between his fingers. Cas moved closer to Dean and let them both unfold all the way so that the one went into Dean’s lap and across his chest. Dean kept working them wings, biting his lower lip as Cas moaned and wiggled. 

“Feel good?”

“So good,” Cas groaned. “Aah…”

“I got an idea. Turn over.”

“Yes.”

Cas sat on his hands and knees with his ass facing Dean, who pulled the angel’s pants down and exposed him. The wings fluttered with expectation. Dean took his own cock out and pressed it against Cas’ hole. He was quite wet with precum.

“D-Dean…put it in…”

“Need it that badly?” Dean chuckled. Cas nodded pathetically, looking over his shoulder. “Okay.”

He held onto Cas’ wings, clutching fistfuls of feathers and gently pushed himself inside. Cas lurched forward with a load moan. His feathers twittered. Dean eased deeper, grunting as gasping all the way.

“Oh, man!” Dean cried out.

With his cock nearly all the way inside Cas’ tight hole, Dean leaned over, mounting Cas like he was a bitch in heat and put his face into the feathers. They smelled musky. Real nice. Dean closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, humping Cas now. His arms worked around Cas’ waist and he clung to him, fucking hard.

“Nggh…Deaaan…”

“Good? Good dick?”

“Oohh…hoooh…”

“Yeah… _yeah_ …oh, fuck!”

Dean didn’t take too long. He rode Cas out as he came, hugging his feathers up against his chest and practically motorboating them. His load was thick and filled Cas well.

“Deaaan…”

The man’s orgasm set Cas off, too. Dean grabbed onto the angel’s dick and rubbed it out as he came. Normally, any bodily fluid going on his car’s upholstery would have made him pissed, but streams of Cas’ thick, pearly cum was alright. It shot out and ran down the leather. They both gasped. Cas’ wings trembled.

“Fucking shit,” Dean exclaimed tiredly. He got off of Cas and dressed him a little sloppy, then put his own dick back and sat proper. He wiped the cum from the seat and tasted it. “You’re delicious, Cas.”

“Thank you,” Cas said in a shy voice. He folded his wings up and they faded away. “I’m glad you enjoyed that. All of that.”

“I sure did. Almost made me forget about this damned third trial. _Fuck_.”


	19. And Something Blue

“It was a bust!”

As expected, Dean returned to the bunker in a terrible mood. He wasn’t going to take it out on Kevin, since mistakes were bound to happen, but he grumbled loudly as he went right to the room declared his. Cas stood in the foyer beside Kevin.

“Sorry,” the young man said, but Dean was already gone.

“He is frustrated for now, but it will pass. Where is Anna?”

“Oh, she’s been out in the garage.”

“There is a garage?”

“Yeah, I’ll show you. Follow me.”

Cas left Dean to recharge on his own and went with Kevin down the hall. They took a small flight of stairs which led to a door at the end. Kevin opened it up and revealed a huge car garage. Between a couple of old vehicles, Anna was standing and staring at the ceiling.

“Anna? Are you alright?” Cas asked as he approached her.

“Ah!”

Anna startled. She turned around and looked at Cas as if she had been awoken from a deep slumber.

“What has happened?” the male angel asked.

“I’ve heard a prayer,” Anna said quite softly.

“From who?”

“I don’t know, but it’s a desperate, crying plea for help.”

“Then other angels shall help?”

“It has been going for some time. I’m afraid nobody else hears it. Do you?”

Cas quieted down for a moment and tried to listen. He frowned slightly and closed his eyes, then he admitted “no.”

“I’ve become sensitive to these odd calls. I’m not sure why.”

“What are you to do?”

“I will investigate.”

“ _Wait_.”

Cas and Anna turned towards the door. Dean had come in and was standing beside Kevin with his arms folded.

“You sure it’s the right thing to do?” he asked. Anna nodded.

“A person out there needs assistance but Heaven is not coming,” she said with confidence. “I choose to help.”

“What if it’s a trap? You aren’t exactly the poster child for angels.”

“Then perhaps I will die. But I am making decisions for myself now and I stand by them.”

Dean walked out of the doorway and stood between Anna and Cas. He looked at her sadly, then briefly glanced in Cas’ direction.

“You’d really risk everything just to exercise making decisions for yourself?”

“Indeed.”

There was no doubt in Anna’s face. She flashed a smile in response to Dean’s questions that was so confident that it nearly broke his heart.

“Anna…”

Cas spoke up now. He reached into his trench coat and handed her his long, silver blade. “Take this,” he said.

“What good is it?” Asked Anna. “Do you suspect that an angel is faking those prayers to lure me in?”

“Perhaps,” said Cas. “It is also effective against demons, in case they are responsible for this.”

“Thank you, Castiel.”

She nodded and left the garage. Dean and Cas remained. Dean looked down and shifted on his heels.

“It’s weird,” he said.

“What is?”

“How you both give up so much for these little purposes.”

Cas smiled and touched Dean’s arm.

“Choosing our own fate is important,” he said. “Not many angels have realized this.”

“That makes sense, I guess.”

Kevin was still waiting there. He cleared his throat real loud to catch their attention.

“Um, so there’s something I wanted to show you, Dean.”

“Really?”

“Yeah…”

Dean and Cas followed Kevin out of the garage and back to the study. Kevin addressed a shoebox-sized safe.

“Here,” he said, handing Dean a note. “For you, I guess.”

Dean took the paper and read it over his head.

_I, John Winchester, leave the contents of my lockbox to be seen by the 23 rd son only. Combination is 4-2-6._

“Damn,” Dean whispered. “It’s like his will.”

“That’s what I thought,” Kevin agreed. He slid the box over to Dean. “All yours.”

“Thanks.”

Dean picked it up and carried it off to him room. He sat down on the bed. Cas followed him.

“This is for me to look at by myself,” said Dean.

“Oh. Of course. My apologies.”

“Sorry.”

“I understand.”

Cas gave a weak smile and waited outside the door while Dean used the code to open it. The lock clicked and he snapped the safe open. Inside there was a smaller box and a few pieces of paper. They appeared to be ripped out from a book. It picked up mid-sentence;

_…to where the gates are supposed to be opened, right in the middle of the state. It made me sick to stand there, knowing that one of my boys will one day die in that very place. Damn._

_I feel terrible for Mary. My bloodline can’t change, but she knowingly walked right into it. I still don’t know why. Wish I could have talked her out of it, but there’s no chance of that now. Dean’s already here and the next one is on the way. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it’s a girl? Then I’ll take a shot at raising Dean right and preparing him for_ his _son to be taken by demons._

The page ended there, but the following one began with a date, about a year after Dean had been born;

_We looked at the fetus today and it’s a boy after all. Not sure how to feel about that. Mary wants to name him Sam, but I told her it doesn’t matter since the demons will rename him anyway. She got all quiet and didn’t want to talk for the rest of the night. I don’t blame her._

The next entry skipped a few weeks;

_The Knights of Hell are after Mary, I know it. She’s been talking to some angel every day but she thinks I don’t know. I heard them in Dean’s room, talking about how he’s such a cute baby and all that, then I saw him. He was holding Dean and damn, if that baby didn’t look happy. Maybe he can tell that he’s an angel? I don’t know. Either way, I think Mary has convinced him to make a soul pact. This concerns me since angels really shouldn’t do that. If he’s sworn to protect Dean, can other angels interfere and screw up the whole purpose? I had too many fucking questions. I know Mary just wants to do the right thing. She knows that the Knights will eventually catch up to her, and she has to let it happen. It’s destiny. They’ll get me, too._

The last entry wasn’t dated;

_She made the soul pact with the angel but the Knights got her. Can’t function. Can’t sleep. Know they’ll be after me next. I hope Dean’s in a safe place with the angel. I worry about Sam. Not born yet, but due in a few weeks._

_I met a demon girl. We’ve been traveling together. Sounds crazy, but she’s trying to stop the gates of Heaven from being closed. Don’t know why. She’s proven herself to me, though. She says fate can always be changed. I’m gonna do everything I have to so I can help my boys._

It ended there, halfway in the page. The last one was torn more recklessly than the others. Dean was still letting it all sink in; reading a letter from his dad that was in his own, genuine words, hearing about Cas and his mom talking.

He took a deep breath and picked up the box that was inside the safe. Something rattled within. He flipped it open and saw many small pieces of glass. A little bit of red residue was on some pieces but it certainly wasn’t blood. Dean recognize it at once—the other bottle from Ruby’s soul pact. No doubt it had been made with John.

“Cas?!”

“Yes?”

The young man turned around and showed the box to Cas, who gazed at it curiously.

“This resembles the vial that Ruby had,” he said quietly.

“’Cause it _is_.”

“Ohh…”

“Did you know that my dad made the soul pact with Ruby?”

“I had no idea.”

“I feel like an asshole.”

“Why?”

Cas sat down next to Dean on the bed.

“’Cause my dad trusted Ruby enough to look after Sam, so…so that means she was right.”

“But Sam could still fall,” Cas warned.

“Not with Ruby.”

“She broke the soul pact, it’s over now. Ruby can choose any way that she likes.”

“Yeah, but my dad trusted her enough to _make_ the soul pact. Do you…”

Dean broke off midsentence. He stared at Cas with his eyes glistening.

“Do you think Ruby would turn her back on Sam after the soul pact was broken?”

“I don’t know. She can do either.”

“It’s that debilitating?”

“I wouldn’t pick that as my first word, but in a way, yes.”

Dean took a deep breath. He gave Cas a quick kiss, which greatly confused the angel.

“Dean?”

“Can I see the other half of your soul pact? The one with my mom?”

“Of course…”

With a suspicious look on his face, Cas reached into the pocket on his suit jacket and handed Dean a small bottle. A bright, blue substance glowed brilliantly within it. He looked at it with wide eyes, watching small sparkles flutter around like a melting universe.

Then all of the sudden, Dean threw it to the ground. I shattered and the glow faded instantly. Cas shot a glare at Dean.

“Why?!”

“Because it’s not fair to you!” Dean cried out painfully. “I can’t watch you slave away just because you made an oath twenty-three years ago!”

“Oh, Dean!” Cas yelped. It was unclear if he was more angry or disappointed.

“Choose your own fate, Cas!” Dean said. “You shouldn’t be bound to—AAAH!”

Dean huddled over in pain. He grabbed at his arm, clutching the fabric of his clothes as he wailed. Cas put his arms around him.

“Dean? Dean?!”

His desperate cry made his voice nearly crack.

“AAH! _DAMN!_ ”

The pain ceased and Dean attempted to catch his breath. He leaned back into Cas’ arms, panting, and fumbled to pull his sleeve up. There was a third mark now, glowing in blue. Dean stared at it.

“That…that was it?” he whispered, his throat dry.

“I suppose it was.”

“The sacred heart was yours?” He looked to Cas with tears in his eyes and the angel nodded. “You can go now. You’re relieved of my fucking burden.”

But Cas shook his head. He touched their cheeks together and continued to hold Dean. With a glow of sweet warmth, his wings appeared and wrapped around the both of them.

“I will never leave you, Dean,” Cas whispered.

“But you aren’t _bound_ anymore. You can do all the free will thinking and deciding that you want.”

The great white plumes ran across Dean’s face lovingly.

“I think and decide to stay with you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Always.”

* * *

Anna found herself walking around a parking lot. She was listening to the prayer that faded in and out of her inner hearing, hoping to find the person behind it. Cas’ borrowed blade was in her hand as she headed towards the building before her. The prayer seemed to be coming from there. It was an old gas station, long abandoned.

She went around the back and saw a woman tied to a tree. At first she thought they were dead, but the sound of her footsteps awakened her and she looked up.

“You are a demon,” Anna spoke softly, “But you all went intended.”

“ _Sam…_ ” the demon whispered. “I…I need to find Sam…”

“Ohh,” said Anna. She came up to Ruby and examined the ropes. They were heavily bound with demonic magic. “Are you Ruby?”

“Yes…”

“I know of you. Castiel and Dean have told me.”

“I need to find Sam…”

“I know of him, as well.”

“Listen…Abaddon…Abaddon the last Knight of Hell…she’s gone to find Sam…gone to convince him to…kill Dean and seal the gates of Heaven…we need to stop her…”

Anna stared at Ruby with great concentration.

“Then it is true,” she stated. Ruby struggled to look back at the angel. “You are on our side.”

“ _Yes_ , I’ve been trying to tell everyone this.”

“Hmm…”

Anna put the blade away and examined the ropes better. She ran her fingertips along them.

“Can you break it?” Ruby asked in a dry voice.

“I believe I can. I will try now. Avert your eyes.”

She grabbed the ropes with both hands and applied a strong force to them. Her whole body glowed bright blue and a high pitched sine wave penetrated the space around them. Ruby let out a cry of pain, but everything else on her was hurting so much that she barely had the strength to react.

The ropes fell to the ground as if they had been burned. Ruby collapsed. Sharp thorns had been pressing into her flesh. Through blood and stifled breath, Ruby whispered, “thank you.”

Anna knelt down, put her hands onto Ruby’s back and healed her instantly. The demon groaned and stood up. She then cracked her neck and looked around. “A miracle,” she said.

“Perhaps,” said Anna. The angel was wincing.

“Are you okay?”

“That took significantly more energy than I had hoped,” Anna admitted. “I am greatly diminished of my grace.”

“Grace?”

“The essence of an angel.”

“Oh, shit!” Ruby yelped. “Are you going to be alright?”

“I will have to be. But either way, I’m happy to have helped you. Now, we must find Sam and Abaddon. Do you know where they might be?”

Ruby seemed upset. She looked upon Anna with great concern.

“Well, they’ll be trying to work out the trials on the angel tablet. I don’t know what they are, so they could be anywhere.”

“Perhaps we can sense them.”

Anna closed her eyes and put two fingers to her own forehead.

“Don’t do anything to overexert yourself!” Ruby warned.

“I am listening and sensing, nothing more.”

“O-okay…”

“They may be in Wyoming.”

Anna pinpointed a location somehow. It was near a hotel. She held Ruby’s hand and used her wings to teleport there, but it weakened her even more so.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Ruby asked. She was a bit dizzy from the travel.

“Y-yes,” Anna muttered. “We must press on.”

Ruby admired Anna’s ability to focus on the problems at hand. She had no idea how much Dean and Cas had told her, but a twinkle in the angel’s eye told Ruby she meant business.

They waited outside of the hotel, since Anna thought Abaddon may be inside. They hid off to the side in an area for dumpsters, keeping an eye on the entrance to the hotel. For three hours did they wait until they saw Abaddon walk out, strutting on her heels with a look of pure bliss. Anna motioned to hold off until the Knight of Hell got far enough away for a sneak attack, but to Anna and Ruby’s great surprise, Abaddon went right to them.

“Thought I didn’t feel an angel and a naughty little demon lurking around out here?” Abaddon asked, arms akimbo. “If you found me, why wouldn’t I be able to find you?”

Ruby showed signs of fear towards Abaddon. She knew what the Knight was capable of. Anna, though, stood straight up and looked her right in the eyes.

“We are not scared,” the angel said. But then she gave a great cough and blue sparkles fluttered from her mouth. Abaddon laughed loudly.

“Oh, wow! Looky what we got here!” she cackled. “An angel losing her grace! Haven’t seen that in decades! Woo! And yet you think you have the ability to take me on?”

Anna had an idea. She made herself cough again then leaned against the dumpster. She held her stomach.

“You are right,” she said in a weakened voice. “My grace is far too low. This was…this was a terrible move.”

Ruby didn’t pick up on it right away. She gasped and went to Anna’s side to support her.

“No, Ruby, you must not endanger yourself. Find Sam.”

“Right,” Ruby said, nodding quickly. Without thinking, she went to run off, but Abaddon took a few steps after her and grabbed her arm.

“Really?” Abaddon growled. Her back was facing Anna now. “What kind of idiot do you think I—WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

Castiel’s blade came cutting through Abaddon’s ribcage. It split her in half and she erupted into a great fire, sparks shooting several feet into the air and she roared and roared in pain.

As the ashes settled, Anna collapsed to the ground. Ruby grabbed the blade and tried to prop the angel up. As if on cue, Sam came out of the hotel.

“Ruby?!”

“Sam!”

Sam came running to Ruby and hugged her as best as he could, but Anna’s life was more important at that point. He knelt down and picked her up. She was out cold.

“An angel,” said Ruby, “and she just killed Abaddon. She saved my life and probably yours…”

Ruby stopped talking. She remembered that Sam had to be killed by Dean in order to seal the gates to Hell. She looked at Sam and her lower lip began to tremble.

“I-is my Sammy gonna be okay?” she asked in a quivering voice.

“I’ll do what I have to,” said Sam. “Try not to feel bad. If sacrificing myself means saving the world, then I’m totally alright with that. Now let’s try to get in touch with Dean and see how to fix this angel.”


	20. Cygnea Cantio

 

Sam and Ruby were unsuccessful in getting a hold of Dean. They didn’t know any number to reach him. Anna was still unconscious and all they had was the angel tablet and the five relics of the Knights, which Abaddon had actually left with Sam. “I lied and said I was going to do it. I guess she trusted me.”

“Look, Sam,” Ruby began, “Anna found me because I was praying.”

“You were _praying?_ ”

“I was going to die! What else could I do? Honestly I hoped that Cas would hear me but I guess his receiver is turned off.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway, I think if we both pray, maybe another angel will hear us and come to help?”

“It’s worth a shot. What else can we do?”

“Exactly.”

Huddled together behind the hotel, Sam and Ruby began to send powerful prayers in their heads. _Dear God, there is a wounded angel here who needs your help. There is nothing we can do, but the fate of the world rests on our shoulders now. Please send someone to assist us_.

They kept the prayers going for about ten minutes went suddenly there was a _woosh_ , and before them stood a short man with chestnut hair. He had big sideburns and a beaky nose.

“You rang?” he asked, but then he saw Ruby and shouted, “Hot _DOG_ what’s a demon doing here?!”

“It’s okay! Chill!” Ruby said, showing her palms. “I’m on your side, honest! We need help for this angel here!”

The male angel looked at Ruby suspiciously. He folded his arms and stared down at Anna.

“Oh. It’s Anna. ‘Course.”

“You know her?” Sam asked.

“Dude,” the angel sassed, “All angels know all angels.”

“So you must know Castiel, too?”

“Hahah, yeah, I know him. Oh, he’s in big trouble upstairs. You don’t even wanna know the things he’s been written up for!”

“Okay, enough chatter!” Ruby interrupted. “Who are you anyway? The angel of useless bitching?”

“Yo!” the angel yelled. “Hold on there, missy. Anna’s one of Heaven’s most wanted! You except me to carry my feathery ass down here, work some miracles for an angel-on-the-run and be talked to like that?” Ruby blushed. “That’s right, that’s right. I’m _Gabriel_ , miss demon. Y’know? Gabriel? From the Bible?”

“I’m sorry,” Ruby apologized quickly. “I didn’t realize.”

“Okay, next time let’s be a little nicer from the get go.”

“I apologize on her behalf as well,” Sam said. “I’m really sorry. We’ve been through a lot. Um. See…”

Sam showed the angel tablet.

“YO!” Gabriel shouted. He cringed. “I don’t like you two! What’s up with this? What are you trying to do?”

“Well er, if you have to know,” Sam cleared his throat loudly, “I’m sort of the 24th son born to the Wincesters.”

“I _knew_ it!” Gabriel hissed. He crouched down beside Anna and put his palm over her forehead. “You’re gonna try and kill me aren’t you?”

“No!” Ruby pleaded. “We are on your side! Trust me!”

“I know that these angels haven’t been the best,” Sam explained, trying to remain rational, “But they’re doing everything they can to keep the gates of Heaven open and seal the ones to Hell. My brother, Dean, is probably going to work on that soon.”

“Mmm,” hummed Gabriel. He grinned at Sam, then muttered something under his breath and suddenly Anna sat upright with a gasp.

“Abaddon!” she shouted. Gabriel looked shocked.

“You killed her,” said Ruby.

“I did? Oh, oh! I am glad…so glad…”

“You killed the last Knight of Hell?” asked Gabriel. Anna saw him and gasped once more.

“G-Gabriel! No, please don’t take me from here!”

“I won’t, I won’t,” said Gabriel. “I’m just helping out and getting to know your friends. It sounds like they might actually be onto something.”

“Yes! Of course we are!” Ruby bellowed. “We need to get to those final gates and let the prophecy be fulfilled!”

Gabriel looked at Sam and pressed his lips together.

“You know what that means, right, big guy?”

“Yeah, I do,” Sam said solemnly. Gabriel ran his finger across his neck, which made Sam feel even worse. “I don’t mind,” said the man. “I just want this to be done. Can you take us to the place?”

“Sure can, sure can. All of you?”

“Please.”

* * *

“Okay, now we just need to get to the place,” Dean said quickly as he was packing a duffel bag. Kevin was pacing in the hallway, holding a book and reading like a madman.

With the third movement completed, Dean was ready to head off towards the gates and finalize it all. Something told him that Sam would be there to stop him, so he had to get _everything_ ready. Kevin was just trying to crack the last part of the demon tablet, but all he had was that there would be a final trial, involving the five relics and a special key in which the blood would be spilt into the gate.

“Oh, the relics!” Kevin yelled. “I need to give you this.”

“Huh?”

Dean turned around and saw Kevin holding out a little brooch shaped like a bird. It had stones faceted into it and was missing some.

“This was my mom’s. It’s one of the five relics. She sealed her power into it. You have the others, right?”

Dean coughed. “Right,” he said quickly. “The ring, the pen, the hair and uhh…the uh…”

Kevin stared at him.

“Are you kidding?!”

“Uhhh…”

“Dean,” Castiel interrupted. “Surely you have the fifth relic.”

“I uhhh…well…maybe I can figure it out. Let’s see; the hair is definitely my mom’s. I bet the ring is dad’s. That leaves Henry with the pen and Bobby’s left over…”

“Did Bobby give you anything special?” Cas asked.

“Uhh…well…okay, he gave me the key to Dad’s storage unit. That’s definitely special. He made a big deal out of giving it to me, too. Said it was a special present.”

“But that would be your Dad’s relic, probably,” Kevin noted. He closed the book he had been reading.

“Does it matter?” Dean asked. “We know the others in the box were… _ohh_ …the ring was probably Bobby’s…”

Dean held the brooch in his fist and went to get the others. He found the key, then the pen, lock of hair and ring.

“Yeah, I bet that’s it,” he said. “Bobby had a wife apparently. I dunno what happened to her, but it makes sense. Dad probably died with his wedding ring on.”

“Then we’ve got them,” Kevin stated.

“Yeah. What about that last movement?”

“Almost.”

Dean finished getting ready and loaded the car up. Cas got into the front seat. Kevin wanted to stay behind.

“Are you sure?” Dean asked. They were alone in the foyer.

“Yeah. It’s not a place for me.”

“But I’ve got all the info I need?”

“Almost. Here, I found one more thing in the tablet…but, maybe you should keep it to yourself…”

When Dean left the bunker and got back into the Impala, his face was pale. Cas asked him what was wrong, but he lied and just said, “nothin’. Now we got a long trip ahead of us, so let’s get on it.”

They drove for about ten hours straight, stopping just for some food and toilet breaks. Dean was mostly silent. He was grateful that Cas was there, but with the mark of the trials burning on his arm and the notion of killing his brother before he himself would be killed, made things very tense. It felt more like twenty hours.

Cas directed him to the right spot. It was a clearing in the middle of a thicket of woods, far from any civilization. It apparently once been a graveyard but that was long ago. The names were faded from all of the headstones.

Dean parked the car along the last bit of path that resembled a road and they walked up to the area. In the back, sitting among the crumbling graves, stood a mausoleum. In front of the mausoleum was Sam.

“I knew it,” Dean grunted beneath his teeth. He put his hand on the demon killing knife, which was in its scabbard, and approached Sam with caution. “Don’t try no funny business, okay, Sam?”

“Nice to see you, too,” Sam said. He stood there as non-confrontational as possible.

“Just stand there and watch me do my thing.”

Dean walked up to the mausoleum and looked it over, trying to figure out where to put the relics. There was a small shelf jutting out next to the door, about ten inches long against the wall and four wide. It had five little indentations which Dean assumed was what he needed.

He looking back at Sam as he slowly put each item down; the pen, the ring, the hair, the brooch and finally the key. As soon as they were set, white light emanated from around the door to the mausoleum. The ground began to vibrate. The shape of a long sword glowed even bright from the center of the door.

A voice Dean didn’t recognize called out, “The Michael sword!” from behind. He looked back and saw Gabriel, though he did not recognize him. Anna and Ruby followed behind.

“Anna? _Ruby?_ ” Dean asked.

“You have to do it, Dean!” Ruby called out, though her voice was choked with tears.

“I know! I will! Who is this guy?”

“They call me Gabriel,” said the shortest angel. He glowed blue for a moment and a pair of brilliant gold wings appeared behind him, matching a radiant halo. “I’m here to help.”

Dean looked at Sam now. “End of the line, kiddo. What’re you gonna do?”

“Nothing,” said Sam.

Dean blinked.

“What?”

“I’m going to do nothing.”

He showed Dean the tablet and the relics, then dropped them to the ground.

“We got off on a good foot but it went sour,” Sam explained. “I apologize for that. If I had known what the prophecies said about me, I’m sure things would have been different. But I’m glad that I had Ruby.” He looked to the demon now, who ran up to him and put her arms around his waist. She cried on him like a child would on her mother.

“ _Saaaaam_ ,” she wailed. “ _My Saaaaaam_ …”

“I’m happy for you, Dean,” Sam continued. “I’m happy you found Cas. I’m happy you completed the movements. It all worked out well for you. I have no regrets. Your anger at me was understandable, there’s no need to hold any hostility. In fact, I want to thank you.”

The sword on the door vibrated. Dean tossed the demon killing knife to the ground, knowing it would be useless now.

“Take it!” Gabriel egged Dean on. “Just take it! You need to use that sword!”

Dean said nothing. He stared at Sam as he went to the door and pulled the Michael sword down with ease. It was a massive blade, with a golden hilt shaped like wings, studded with bright red stones. He held it in his hand and pointed it towards Sam.

“Thank you,” Sam said. “Thank you for doing whatever you had to do in order to save the world. The _world,_ Dean. You’re altering the very fabric of history right now.” He smiled. “It’s pretty neat, I think. We were all blessed to be a part of it. Ruby, my partner who I love dearly…Cas, who was no doubt pivotal…Mom and dad even, who we didn’t know. They were very important. Anna, too. You know Anna killed Abaddon?”

“R-really?” Dean stuttered. He looked at the angel for a moment, who was smiling at him like a fan girl. Then he brought his attention back to Sam.

The door to the mausoleum shattered suddenly. The light was white but a flame grew within. It was black and red, angry, no doubt from Hell.

“YOU NEED TO KILL HIM!” Gabriel screamed at the top of his lungs. His wings fluttered, sending golden glitter everywhere. “KILL HIM AND TOSS HIM INTO THE GATES! IT’S THE ONLY WAY! Sheesh, this guy’s a moron.”

Sam gave a final kiss to Ruby. They held it for a moment, tears running down both of their eyes.

“Thank you for saving me,” he whispered. “Thank you for loving me.”

Ruby nodded silently. They kissed once more. “I love you so much, Sam. I always will.”

“ _Stop_.”

Dean’s voice was quivering. The ground shook more violently now and air was starting to suck into the doorway. Gabriel was getting impatient. “It might get ugly,” he said. “Better use your wings, kids.”

Cas and Anna both brought their feathers out and flew a few feet above the ground. Cas’ trench coat flapped in the wind. They tried not to get sucked into the gates.

“Sam,” Dean said, “You’re a good guy. I should apologize for being such a dick to you. If I had trusted you the whole time, none of this would’ve been an issue. It’s like the Men say, ‘trust people that are trustworthy’ or something like that. And it’s true.”

“I get it, Dean. Just…just hurry up…I’m afraid everyone is gonna get pulled downstairs soon.”

“No, you _don’t_ get it,” Dean continued. “You were born in a torture chamber and raised by the baddest fuckin’ demon out there. A rogue one managed to pick you up, but it wasn’t by accident—our dad picked Ruby out and made a soul pact with her!”

“What?!” Sam gasped. He looked down at the demon. “Really? You knew my dad?”

“It’s true,” Ruby said, nodding sadly. “He was a good guy.”

“Our lives have been the same,” Dean said. “They’ve paralleled each other, but nobody knew how it would end.”

“I know the route that it will take,” said Sam.

“No, you don’t. Because there was one last bit of info that missed up. I just learned it before we left. Kevin told me.”

The wind was sucking into the door but everyone fell silent. All eyes were on Dean, who held the Michael sword firmly in his hand.

“It takes any Winchester’s blood to seal any gate.”

With that, Dean turned the sword upon himself and ran it through his gut. Castiel immediately zoomed down and grabbed him.

“DEAAAN!” he screamed, louder than any time before. His voice turned into the angelic sine wave, which cried and hissed in desperation.

“Throw him into the gate! Damn!” Gabriel yelled out from the air.

Cas put his arms around Dean and held him close.

“Dean, why…no…Sam…”

“I—choose—free will, Cas…” Dean gasped, blood running out profusely. “Throw me—into that—damned hole—already…”

“Dean…”

Cas leaned down and put a final kiss to Dean’s lips. With their noses together, great, silver and blue tears running down Cas’ cheeks, he said, “I love you, Dean.”

“Love you too, Cas…I love you more than you’ll ever know…”

He threw Dean into the gates now. His body hit the glow and it sealed with a great swell of air. It was rather anticlimactic, really. The relics had disappeared and the door looked like it had when they arrived. The air settled. Everything fell quiet. Cas collapsed onto the ground. Ruby was crying louder than ever.

“I’m sorry,” Sam said, going to Cas and hugging him. His eyes were filled with tears as well. “He was…he was good…”

“So good!” Ruby cried out. She clung to Sam and sobbed loudly. “Deaaaan! The perfect maaaan! He sacrificed himself for everyone! For yoooou!”

Anna landed and came up to Cas, too. She knelt beside him and gave him a hug. She sniffled.

“You were lucky to have loved him,” she whispered.

“I know,” Cas replied in a tiny voice.

Sam and Ruby remained for a little while, trying to console Castiel. The angel lightened up only momentarily.

“Here,” Cas said, taking Dean’s blade and handing it to Sam. The bags under his eyes were sadder and darker than usual. “There will still be demons trapped out here. They will have to die. I believe this is a job best suited for you two.”

“Thank you, Cas,” said Sam, taking the knife with pride.

“His car is parked down the lane. He left the keys in it, as usual…I think you should keep it, as well.”

“Thank you again. Will you be okay?”

Cas shook his head. “How can I?”

“Can’t you go back to Heaven and be with him?” Ruby asked.

“I have broken too many Heavenly orders. They will never allow me back.”

Ruby sniffed. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

“I accept this fate. If making decisions by our own will means this is how it ends, then this is how it should end.”

Sam gave Cas a hug. “Take care, if you can.”

“The same to you, Sam. This will be very hard for you. I think it will become increasingly difficult. Treat yourself well.”

“You, too.”

Ruby then hugged Cas, too.

“Thank you for believing in me,” she whispered.

“Of course,” Cas said, trying to smile at her. Ruby kissed him on the cheek and walked away.

“Castiel?”

Anna remained. Gabriel had disappeared in the thick of it all.

“Anna…”

“You will need comfort. I will stay for some time.”

“Thank you.”

Anna stayed by Cas’ side for several weeks. She would disappear and return with seeds, which they planted all around the mausoleum. But Cas was so distraught and torn up inside that he stopped talking to Anna. He would stand in front of the door, staring at it and not move at all.

Then one day, Anna was gone for a long time. When she returned, she had an announcement.

“Dear Castiel,” she said. “Please speak to me.”

“Yes, Anna?”

Cas’ voice was dry from lack of use.

“I am going to devolve,” she said.

“Why?”

“I am done being an angel. Free will is too precious. I am going to lose my grace and die so I may be reincarnated as a human again.”

Cas turned around. He looked at Anna with tears in his eyes. Bright, glowing blue tears.

“Is that so?” he asked, sniffing.

“Yes. But please do not be sad. I’m happy for my fate. This is a new beginning for me. Perhaps by the time I manage to reach celestial heights, the world will be different and more pleasant to live as an angel.”

“I understand.”

“Goodbye, Castiel.”

She hugged him real tight, one last time, then walked away. Cas turned back towards the mausoleum and stared at the door.

Days passed.

Years passed.

Decades, too.

The seeds they had sown turned into great flowery bushes and beautiful green trees. Moss and lichen grew on Castiel’s coat. Ivy climbed his legs which stood diligently as if they belonged to a statue. He lost track of time. It didn’t matter.

Then one day, a person wandered into the garden. Cas was used to the sounds of animals, but these footprints were different. Still, he did not move. The steps grew closer. Twigs snapped.

“Hey,” a young voice said. “Who’re you?”

Cas hadn’t moved in so long that he nearly forgot how. He tried to turn his head. There was a young boy, maybe twelve or so, standing behind him with a big stick. He poked Cas’ leg with it.

“What’re you doing here?” he asked.

“Why are you here?” Cas retorted. His voice was more like old wood now.

The young boy cocked his head. He scrunched up his heavily freckled nose.

“I think I know you,” he said. “Cool looking Blue-Eyed man…”

Cas smiled. He cracked the plants around his legs and turned around.

“Hello, Dean.”

 

_the end_

 


End file.
